Beginnings

This is me, Mike Craig. I'm a self-employed green wood carver and I have anxiety (fellow anxiety sufferers will appreciate just how long it's taken to get this first sentence written!).

The purpose of creating this blog is to explore the connections between craft work and mental health. This is me trying to understand my own post-medicated anxiety in light of my craftwork. I will be documenting my explorations, the successes and the failures and hopefully that may stimulate a useful dialogue within our community of craftspeople, makers and creatives.

I believe that craft work, making and the creative arts contain the possibility to improve an individual’s mental well-being through repeated mindful practice. This is certainly true for me. However, the act of creating can be fraught with anxiety for the maker. Again, this is my truth! 

 

I'm trying to find ways of maximising the positive mental benefits of craft work while minimising the anxiety. I believe that sharing with others is a really important part of this process, so here I am blogging about it. Let’s see where it goes…