Making it
Slow Crafting and Gentle Protest for the Tender Hearted
I like to keep my hands busy; starting seeds, weeding the garden, drawing, cooking, sewing, painting... Creating with my hands has always helped me regulate the deep emotions of my tender heart. The slow, deliberate process of starting seeds, knitting a sweater, or patching well-loved overalls is a meditation, an invitation to pause, stay present, and make the world a more beautiful place. Slowing down to craft can help us work through the injustices of the world one stitch or seed at a time. This sort if meditation creates space to process complex problems and feelings as we repair, and inspires hope - we can make things better, even if the work is slow.
For me, a sensitive introvert, news and social media have been difficult minefields to navigate these days. It’s no wonder that during times of stress I turn to slow crafting to soothe my heart, steady my nerves, and remind myself that repair is possible. According to Psychology Today the practice of using your hands to make something that doesn’t require much cognitive demand - repetitive crafts like stitching or knitting - allows our brains to recharge and relax: “When we engage in a repetitive task, completely taking our minds off whatever problem or issue we have been struggling with, the solution will often magically appear.”1 While I may not be able to untangle global crises, I have found that the act of creating can lessen my anxiety and things don’t feel so bad once I have created something with my hands. I’ve often found that my own seemingly small problems have a tendency to work themselves out if I make space to let go and rest.
Many people pursue slow crafts as a solitary hobby at home, which is important, but I believe it’s equally important to take time to craft together. Crafting with others allows for skill and resource sharing, and community building. Most people are on screens for hours each day, and making space and time to be together while creating something with your hands builds deeper connection, not just through the items we make or repair, but through socializing and storytelling. By crafting together we collectively remember what it means to be human, reasserting our roles as makers and creators and finding our commonality rather than fearing our differences. I’ve had the most intimate conversations with mere aquaintances while crafting, and it’s these moments that remind me of our shared humanity. In spite of our differences, there’s really so much more that we have in common once we start to share our stories with one another. Tiny interactions can have huge impacts, and by crafting together we find that happiness and connection are not passive tasks, they do indeed take work; but this work feels doable in the company of friends.
Recently, I’ve been exploring the work of individuals who pursue craft as a form of gentle protest, a term coined by Sarah Corbett, the founder of the Craftivist Collective. Crafting has a long history in protests, and can be another tool for movements seeking to change the world for the better. Corbett describes the Craftivism Collective and gentle protest as a way for introverts to use their innate talents to help fuel change:
“It sometimes feels like the only way to create change is to stand up and fight for the world we want to see. To march under giant banners and shout to have our voices heard. There’s time for the loud, there’s also time for the quiet. There’s time for the fast, there’s also a need for the slow. In everyone’s heart is a desire to change things for the better – it is essential that there is an activist toolkit that is as diverse as humanity.”2
Using creativity and crafting as gentle protest is a great way to welcome more people to the table. Not everyone has the freedom, mobility, or desire to march in the streets and loudly oppose the injustices of the world. Some of us will better serve our chosen cause by emailing our representatives, mailing postcards, or hand-stitching handkerchiefs.3 Burnout is a very real struggle for movements that require sustained effort, but organizers have adopted tactics that allow for individual rest while maintaining the momentum of their causes. “The Parable of the Choir” compares social movements to a choir of voices able to sustain a note indefinitely. Individual singers take turns breathing and the note continues to be held by the rest of the choir, resulting in a continuous note with no breaks.4 Crafting and gentle protest allows for more voices in the choir, and gives us permission to take a breath when needed in order to sustain that impossibly long, beautiful note.
Not every form of gentle protest seeks to address a specific grievance. Making and repairing clothing can extend the life of our belongings, build new skills and minimize waste while also serving as a protest of consumer culture, the attention economy, and corporate greed. The radical act of replacing a button on a shirt, adding pockets to a dress, or patching a pair of jeans to extend their usefulness reminds us that our attention is valuable currency. Perhaps our hours of doomscrolling would be better spent creating something in the company of friends. Plus, learning skills that help us be more self-sufficient builds confidence and improves mental health. By rejecting the attention economy that fuels social media and wreaks havoc on our mental health5 we reclaim our time and find ways to connect that don’t involve a screen - now there’s a form of protest I can get behind!
As we walk into 2026 I am thinking about what things are worthy of my attention, how I can live a life that reflects my values, and how we can all spend more time in community with one another - patching up the holes and making what’s broken whole again. While it is true, things fall apart, repair and beauty are always possible after a breakdown and together we will make it.
Your Magic Bean Farmer,
Sarah
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-for-life/201906/working-with-your-hands-does-wonders-for-your-brain
https://www.craftivist-collective.com
The Craftivism Collective created bespoke handkerchiefs for board executives at Marks and Spencer, successfully encouraging them to impliment a living wage for their workers. https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_corbett_activism_needs_introverts
https://beautifultrouble.org/toolbox/tool/v-formation
The Attention Economy describes how Social media companies profit from our attention and harm our mental health https://www.humanetech.com/youth/the-attention-economy