Anyone who knows me knows I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I have been for 30+ years, ever since I was stationed in the Army at Fort Riley, Kansas back in the 80s.
When I was a younger kid, I was a fan of the Bob Griese era Miami Dolphins, but only because I was infatuated with dolphins and really thought the helmet logo was awesome. So obviously, I’ve been an NFL somewhat fan for quite some time, but when I was in Kansas, I finally had a legit team to follow. And despite the several not-so-good-very-much decades, I’ve stuck to my guns and my team through it all.
Last year’s Super Bowl happened while I was still recovering from a respiratory illness which lasted well over a month. Yes, I was excited the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl, but after the terrible first half, I was tired – not just from being sick, but also from being disgusted by the first half performance of my team. I went to bed. Hubby stayed up to watch the rest of the game. When he got into bed, I briefly awoke and asked, “How bad did we lose?”
“You won!” he said.
I literally shot straight up, wide awake, and exclaimed, “What??” Needless to say, I found the game replayed on the NFL network and watched every second of it.
This year, I told myself I would not be upset about the game and I would stick it out no matter what. I had my yarn and my low-carb beer, and my pre-game Krispy Kreme donut, all for luck.
And it worked! I drank some beer, watched the game and calmly made this:
So I would agree with the research I’ve glanced at which claim knitting and crochet (and crafting in general) are calming stress relievers. If you watched the Big Game, you might agree that someone like me (a.k.a. Chiefs fan) would be completely wrecked. But not me – I was calm as a cucumber at the end of the game. Disappointed yes, but calmly disappointed.
I’m not sure how calming crochet or knitting would be in the case of a life or death situation, but for situations like a football game (whether it’s the Big Game or a preseason game), it’s a good strategy for keeping the stress low.
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have – Maya Angelou
Hooked on Whimsy 