In Praise of Easy Crafts

Crafting is one of my favourite pastimes: sewing, knitting, cutting up pieces of felt to make dumb dolls, you name it. When I'm stressed out though, sometimes the last thing I want to do is sit down and follow a whole whack of instructions to create something that might not turn out. Sometimes this is very cathartic, but there are times I just want the instant gratification of a construction paper and glitter glue craft. Here's where the the kid craft books come in (like The Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts from Kids Can Press). Egg carton caterpillars, glitter paper chain, POPSICLE STICK REINDEER! Bring it on! The bonus is that my six year old loves to join in and then we both feel better!

Music

Sometimes I forget about the simple pleasure of listening to music and really hearing the complexities of the melodies in the piece. To just sit and do nothing else but listen is really a very mindful act.

When I was younger it seemed to come naturally. I didn't have the multitude of distractions I do today, I was content to turn off the nattering part of my brain and just settle into the sound.

In my ongoing quest for mindfulness, I'm going to allot some time each day for fully enjoying some music.