This blog is about the benefits of creating and being mindful when you build. Every project is an opportunity to create something that you’ve seen in your mind first. It’s also an opportunity to be mindful and to create balance.
With carpentry, focus is a must if you want to create what you envision and if you want to keep all your fingers. Focusing on the present can help create a sense of well-being, reduce stress, increase awareness, and increase emotional balance.
Mindfulness in a nutshell, or, in this case, a dishpan
There’s a lot of talk about mindfulness these days. But what is it? And what does it have to do with building stuff?
A friend shared this explanation of the basics years ago and I’m still grateful to him for it:
He said think of something you do every day that you’ve learned to do on auto pilot. Something that lets your mind drift when you’re doing it.
It gives you time to worry. The voice in your head messes with you and is thinking that its helping. We all know that voice – it’s the anchor that tries to keep you in a lousy port in order to keep you out of a storm. It’ll never work, I’m too busy, It’s a dumb idea anyway. But the same voice that keeps us safe also keeps us from getting to where we want to go.
For me, my mindless task was doing the dishes. My friend’s advice? Do the dishes.
That it.
He said that if my mind wandered to other things, I should take a breath, think ‘Im doing the dishes’. And then do the dishes. It worked like a charm!
Anxiety and worry faded. I felt grounded. Sometimes I’d actually say aloud, “I’m doing the dishes” to stay focused and to reset. (Check to see who’s around if you do this though. A few times I’ve heard, “Good job! Do you want an award?)
Staying present and focusing on the ‘now’ takes a little practice but has a ton of benefits. Applying this mind clearing focus to carpentry and other projects makes DIY even more beneficial.
Benefits of Carpentry Mindfulness
There are so many benefits of mindfulness that you can experience as you build.
Focus and Presence:
The need to concentrate and to pay attention to detail creates the perfect space for mindfulness. Measuring, cutting, and assembling wood can be meditative. This sets the stage to be fully present and in the moment.
Pulls in the Senses:
Paying attention to the sights, sounds, smells, and textures when building brings the sensory experience to the next level. The way a nail gun feels in your hand. The small of fresh cut wood. The sound of boards seating perfectly when tongue and groove click together. What a way to be in the moment!
Stress Reduction:
Carpentry can promote mindfulness, which can greatly lessen stress and anxiety. Focusing on the present is the best defense against looking back (and regretting) or looking ahead (and being anxious). It keeps you in the now and can be great therapy.
Flow State:
Carpentry can lead to a state of flow, where you become completely immersed in what your doing and lose track of time. You’re in the groove, the now, the zone. This is great for mental health and is also when a ton of work can get done quickly.
Sense of Accomplishment:
Completing a building project can provide a sense of accomplishment and improve self-esteem. Creating a space, a piece of furniture, or any other number of items for others can be an incredible gift. And what better way to build self-esteem than to give?
Cognitive Benefits:
Carpentry takes a lot of brain work. Planning, sequencing, spatial reasoning are all complex processes and are great for keeping the brain sharp. The math, geometry, physics and material science involved makes building an excellent cognitive work out.
Mindfulness in a Pile of Tongue and Groove
A pile of 12- foot tongue and groove haunts me in my sleep. I wake up in a cold sweat at 3 AM. How do I start getting this stuff on the walls? How do I do the ceiling? How do I adjust for warp? What if I never finish? What if I finish and everyone thinks it looks dumb? How will I ever get this all done? Why can’t I get back to sleep?
The hamsters are running on their wheels inside my head and more of their friends are on their way. I lay there and plan – assembling and disassembling over and over again. A list of problems to be solved keeps growing as I stare at the naked rafters and insulation where a ceiling is supposed to be.
What helps?
When daylight comes I do the dishes. Except it’s something better than dishes. I have a bigger picture of how things are going to be – all walls and the ceiling covered in tongue and groove knotty pine boards, and then moldings to finish it up. It’s going to be a lot of work. It’s overwhelming. But then I use the dishes trick.
I’m carrying this board. I’m cutting this board. I’m nailing in this nail. And then I do it three hundred more times.
Something happens during a project like that. Full- time craftspeople and artists are blessed to experience this for a living. You get to create something in your mind and then get to manifest it in the real world. You also get to experience mindfulness one board, one nail at a time, until you’ve built something great.
Carpentry Mindfulness and the Manifestation Muscle
Manifestation is another concept that isn’t always easy to grasp but that plays out over and over again during building projects. Knowing how to manifest can be a key to success in all areas of life. Carpentry is a perfect place to exercise the manifesting muscle and to become stronger.
What is Manifesting?
Manifesting is the process of bringing desires into reality. You define your desires, visualize them, take inspired action, trust the process, all while addressing limiting beliefs and practicing gratitude. All things we can practice during a building project.
Practicing Manifesting in Carpentry
Here’s how.
By defining what you want specifically and writing it down. There’s no feeling in the world like coming across old, scribbled plans and diagrams for a project you’ve made come to life! You envisioned it. You wrote it down. You made it happen.
Visualizing (I see myself successfully building an Adirondack chair), using affirmations (“I am spectacular at building Adirondack chairs”) and practicing gratitude (I’m thankful for my tools, the opportunity to build an Adirondack chair, and for a kick butt place to sit!)
Take inspired action – Get up and do the work, one mindful step at a time, and be patient and persistent.
Trust the process – trust that things will all work out like they’re supposed to. It’s all good.
Trust your intuition – Every building project is a leap of faith. You’ve got this!
There will be limiting beliefs, fear, and self- criticism. It’s part of being human. Be kind to yourself, cut yourself some slack, and build it anyway.
Be positive. Talk to yourself like you’re coaching an elite athlete. Encouraging, fine tuning, and lesson learning is good. Being mean is bad.
Find a mentor, be a mentor, or just lend a helping hand. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to offer help. Receiving help and guidance from another human can lead to being better at what you do. More important, it allows you to connect with others and be there for each other. Ultimately it’s what this journey is all about.
A thank you
On that note, a shout out to Rich Dunham (82 years old in this picture, the day he showed up with a square and a pencil to help out with the Water Shed build). Rich, thank you for all of the times you pulled me out of the mud with your tractor. You were the best neighbor, mentor, and helper we could have asked for. Until we meet again!
We wish you mindful building – may all your blueprints become reality!
We’d love to connect and to hear your thoughts! See the ‘Contact” and ‘Subscribe” pages to touch base.
A thank you to some amazing photographers, for sharing some of the photos above on Unsplash
Photo by Siim Lukka on Unsplash
Photo by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
Photo by Luis Reyes on Unsplash
