Roma Wells has been crocheting since she was about seven years old. “For as long as I can remember it’s been a part of my life,” said Wells, a resident at Creekside in Huntsville. Now 92 years old, she could certainly be considered a professional. While Wells has always enjoyed the hobby, it seems her interest grew even more after making the move to Creekside 5 years ago. She now crochets with one of her neighbors in mind, carefully stitching their name into the customized piece. “I embroider their name into anything I make,” she said. While lap blankets are her most common handmade gift, she is also known to make lovely winter hats as well.
When asked why she has embraced the hobby with such passion she answered instantly, “I love to make people smile.” While her focus is on giving to others, the truth is, she is getting quite a bit in return too. According to scientific studies, the way Roma enjoys her hobby by giving her creations away as gifts is especially beneficial to her overall health and well-being. For starters, crocheting alone is known to reduce stress, help with depression, improve self-esteem, aid in sleep, and even lower the risk of dementia as an activity that requires a great deal of cognition to accomplish. Crocheting is like a workout for your brain!
But that’s not all, the act of gift giving to others has its own set of benefits too. Primarily, the experience known as the “helper’s high.” According to the National Library of Medicine, the helper’s high is a term that gained popularity in the 1980’s describing the rush of positive emotions and boosting endorphins that come after an act of selfless service to others. Individuals who benefit regularly from the experience get boosts of self-esteem and happiness while lowering the risk of depression. Most impressively, those who live a lifestyle of giving to others tend to live longer than those who do not make a practice of giving and volunteering.
Another term for what Roma has embraced is called purpose. Fyodor Dostoevsky famously wrote, “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.”
It is notable, when pressed to explain why she spends her time making these gifts, Wells didn’t say she loves making blankets and hats, instead she said, “I love to make people smile!” Perhaps that is the difference between a hobby and purpose, the motive behind the action. For Roma, she isn’t stitching together blankets, she is stitching together smiles.
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