Working With Your Hands is Good for Your Head

Why make stuff?

My friends who do visual arts, gourmet cooking, costuming and other arts & crafts tell me that it often has less to do with needing a particular item than it does the satisfaction they get from working with their hands. They practice their art even if they don't have any urge to earn a living from it.

Now there's evidence that handwork or even hard physical work can counteract the brain fog you might get from too much time at a desk, in front of a glowing screen. I'm still reading about this (Shop Class as Soul Craft by Matthew Crawford, Penguin Press 2009) so my information on why this is true is incomplete. I do know that after answering phones and tapping at a keyboard all day, it's a relief to pull a few weeds.