E149 - Analog Creativity
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Okay. Hello, my friend. Welcome to Create Today. I'm Beth Buffington, and today we're talking about analog creativity. That's the paper, yarn, glue stick, flour on the counter kind of creativity. And we're gonna talk about what it is and why it can feel so good, and I'm gonna give you seven fresh ideas that you might just wanna try.
Now, before we get into it, I wanna tell you a little story. This past weekend, I spent some luxurious time reveling in analog creativity at, of all things, a Halloween party. Now, my daughter and her husband, they have a yearly Halloween party. This was the 11th annual Halloween party, and they host a space for two kinds of analog fun.
One is a chili cook-off, and the other is a pumpkin [00:01:00] carving contest. And let me tell you that the competition is fierce.
now at my house, it's just Tom and I right now. Tom is the main chef in the house. So he spent a good amount of his time choosing peppers and onions and a variety of beans, and then figuring out what spices he was going to use, and he concocted his own version of chili.
He never uses a recipe, he just goes where his imagination and his inspiration take him. And, uh, let me tell you, his chili is chef's kiss. Now, I'm the pumpkin carver in the family, and I have a lot of fun during the year just sussing out research about what I might want my pumpkin to be.
So I really focused this year on things that would glow in the dark. I collected glow in the dark ping pong balls, glow sticks, wands, [00:02:00] googly eyes, and glow in the dark paint. And if you're watching this episode on YouTube, you will see the end result of my pumpkin in the photo that I'm sharing.
Now, my experiment with glow in the dark ping pong balls and googly eyes were kind of a disappointment. Uh, they didn't light up like my imagination had, had sketched out that they would. But you know what? It didn't stop Fiona and I from having a great time carving and creating our many-eyed jack-o'-lantern.
And by the way, Fiona and I won third place, So that was my analog creativity fun for the weekend.
Now let me explain why cooking chili and carving pumpkins have anything to do with the word analog. Now, this is a term that has popped into the proverbial spotlight kind of in contrast to a term that has overshadowed a lot of our current lives, and [00:03:00] that word is digital.
For most of my life, I've only heard the word analog used by someone who was talking about clocks, right? Like, does your children's school have analog or digital clocks? Now, an analog clock has constantly moving clockwise hands, and a digital clock has ever-changing numbers.
And here's some background information. Analog comes from the Greek word analogos, which means proportionate. An analog clock got its name because the hands move in proportion to time itself, and as the hour passes, the minute, the hour, and the second hands sweep along proportionally along with the passing of those 60 minutes, right?
Now, think about the difference for a second. A digital clock tells you exactly one thing. What time is it now? [00:04:00] It's 10:52. And then it's going to tell you the moment time turns to 10:53, and that's it. An analog clock shows you the whole picture. You can see and easily calculate how much of an hour has gone by and how much time is left.
So today, we're gonna discuss activities in a creative way using the word analog. And I don't want you to think of these activities as being old-fashioned.
Instead, I want you to think of the word analog as describing creativity as clocking proportion in your day. It's a way of viewing the whole shape of your day to make sure that there's room in it for things that you can hold with your hand and do repetitively, that doesn't involve scrolling and tapping or texting.
So you've probably been guessing, and guessing correctly, that [00:05:00] I, during this episode, am going to extol the virtues of analog creativity. Because you know I believe that creativity belongs on the same list of priorities as sleep and exercise and having a good diet, right?
So if you're thinking this, bingo, you are right, my friend. Analog activities that include creativity is one of the ways we can proportionally add more happiness in our life. So let's check in on our days, okay? I want you to kind of take a peek at yourself. Can you calculate the proportion of digital versus analog time that you're spending during the day?
Looking at those activities, how much, how many of them are digital, and how many, how much of them are analog? Now first, let me ask you something, and there's no wrong answer here. This is not for a score. I don't want you to [00:06:00] have any guilt or any judgment. This is just collecting data. It's just information.
What does the mix of analog versus digital look like in your day right now? And if you're looking at a pie chart of your day, you know, drawing that circle, how much of your time happens on a screen, a phone, a TV, or a tablet? And then how much of your time is taken up using your hands to have fun cooking or gardening, drawing or painting, playing an instrument, or yes, even carving a pumpkin.
Remember, there's no judgment here. We're just collecting data. Because I'll be honest, a lot of good things happen on screens. I mean, that's where I see photos of the people I love, and I text with family that I don't get to see every day, and it's often where I find those delicious recipes I wanna try, and it's a big part of how I run my business, and it's [00:07:00] probably where you're listening to me right now digitally.
So I don't want you to stop doing that, my friend. Okay? Don't stop that. so I want you to see that digital, he's not the bad guy here.
But for a lot of us, the proportion of how we mix digital time with analog activities has shifted, and shifted dramatically towards digital without us even noticing. You see, our work has moved onto screens. Isn't it easier and faster to do our work online? And we shop online more than ever. I mean, the, um, the variety of things we can choose from is bigger online, and sometimes getting things quicker, well, that happens online, too.
Even our hobbies moved to more digital a little at a time. In the past 10 years or so, we've slowly started spending more and [00:08:00] more time gaming online, streaming movies instead of going to the theater, going to events online instead of in person, watching videos about doing hobbies online instead of actually doing hobbies.
We didn't do this on purpose, my friend. It just happened. So how's your mix of digital versus analog? How's that playing for you this week? If you pictured your week as a pie chart, noting analog and digital time, and you knew analog time was important to have as part of your daily life, the proportions that you're seeing between the digital and analog?
Do you like it? Maybe you're going, "Ah, actually I do a lot of analog stuff, Beth." And if so, that's wonderful. Good for you. but maybe you're thinking, "Whoa, maybe I could use a little more time having some analog fun during my day."
And when I [00:09:00] say analog fun, I mean quality time spent with a real pencil, a ball of yarn, a lump of bread dough, carving pumpkins, creating a winning chili. So you get the picture here? And if you're thinking, "Hmm, I do need to do less online gaming or scrolling or social media or watching videos," well, you're in the right place.
This podcast is the place where you learn how to create today so that you can become happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul. So last week, my guest, poetry therapist Bree McLaughlin, she showed us the positivity that can happen in our brains and in our lives in just a short amount of time using just a pen in your hand and your imagination.
Today, I'm inviting your imagination to continue this quest for hands-on creativity by discovering the treasures [00:10:00] available in analog activities. And this is so very simple. I mean, you just enjoy having fun doing hands-on crafts and activities. Now, maybe you've already been feeling that pull towards doing more hands-on things in your free time.
And if so, there's good reason. There's good reason for you thinking, "That sounds like fun." And that's because you're not alone. Analog creativity has become quite the thing. Many people have even started calling 2026 the year of analog. Now, I'm not bringing this up to make you feel like you need to chase a trend, because I'm not about that.
Trends come and they go, and you don't need permission from TikTok or Pinterest to pick up a paintbrush or kneed some dough. But I'm bringing it up today because the evidence of this trend tells us [00:11:00] something very compelling. This trend shows that people are looking for more and more ways to spend time off-screen and make a move away from having life swallowed up by hours and hours of digital time every day.
And as always, it's easy to find the evidence about what trends are doing because the facts are typically indicated by where and how we're spending our money. So let's look at that for a moment. The craft chain Michaels has reported searches for knitting, crochet, embroidery, and painting on its website having more than doubled in just six months.
Needlepoint searches have more than tripled, and people are even searching for craft nights so they can make things together. And analog interests reach past the craft store.
One shopping trend report found instant film and [00:12:00] camera sales are up more than 150%. And Pinterest says searches for snail mail gifts like paper and stickers and bookmarks and stationary and stamps, they've more than doubled. All these analog interests are very different hobbies, but they can have the same premise.
Do something that is real, and do something with your hands that you can actually hold. And some folks are calling these, uh, grandma hobbies, which I give a nod to in full agreement. I mean, backing up, my grandmas were always knitting. They were always doing embroidery, trying out new recipes, writing down recipes on recipe cards, and they were always growing some amazing, fantastic gardens.
And as a grandma myself, my favorite way to spend time with my grand buddies is sharing a craft with them, one that we do with our [00:13:00] hands. Now, I don't want you to feel pressure to make stuff that needs to be perfect, my friend. I mean, I just realize that making stuff, when you're doing that, you're in good company.
because people just want to spend time having fun and maybe getting a little messy
just doing creative activities with their hands.
And that doesn't mean that the end result needs to be perfect. Not at all, my friend. Now Now speaking of being in good company, let's take a moment to hear a word from our sponsor. And that sponsor, my friends, that's me. Let's take a moment to find out about a fantastic offering inside the world of Create Today.
First, let me say I see and I understand what might feel like irony here. I'm about to invite you to an online club in an episode about hands-on [00:14:00] creativity. But stay with me and you'll understand the analog treasures you can enjoy when you create today with me. This is a cordial invitation to you to join the Going Forwards Clubhouse.
Now, the Clubhouse works a lot like the bulletin board at your local library. You stop by and you discover what's going on inside your community, and then you choose which things you're interested in. And then you enjoy the hands-on activities, creating things with your actual hands.
Inside the Clubhouse, you can sign up for Find a Pen Pal to get matched with a letter-loving friend. This is real hands-on fun because you're going to send and receive beautiful cards and letters through the good old-fashioned snail mail. Then there's the Recipe Exchange, which is really just about playing with your food.
You can [00:15:00] share a recipe, a photo, or a story of something you've made, or maybe it's just a picture of Tuesday night's takeout that you creatively placed on a pretty platter. If it was fun to plan, to fix, to plate, and eat, then it counts. There's also the Beth's Best Book Club, where I share, and so can you, the great books we are reading.
Actually turning pages by hand is a highly encouraged hands-on activity, but audio listening while your hands are busy with other analog events, that's fine, too. And every quarter, there's a creative challenge, and you can go all in and aim for the prizes, or you can just create along when you can for the hands-on fun of it.
Plus, we get together each month to mingle with our creative friends or meet a new friend for the very first time. This is just for the fun. There's no deadline, no [00:16:00] judgment, just a really cool, very analog way to be creative. So try the Clubhouse for just a dollar for your first month.
You can join the clubhouse at bdi-create.today/going-forwards-membership.
Or to make it easy, just go to the show notes. There's gonna be a live link that will take you straight to the signup page for the clubhouse. And in the meantime, just get yourself ready to get your hands busy
So why does making something with your hands bring benefits to your life? How can 20 minutes with a crochet hook leave you feeling settled in a way that screen time just can't? Let's take a peek at a few reasons that explain the science behind this curious trend about going analog with your hands.
[00:17:00] First, your hands are connected to your mood. A neuroscientist named Kelly Lambert calls this effort-driven rewards. Her idea is that when we use our hands to put real effort into something we can see and touch, the brain pays us back with a sense of wellbeing. And this rings true for you if you've ever pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven and felt a burst of joy.
Oh my gosh, that's a good feeling.
Second, my friend, your brain lights up differently when your hands are involved. Researchers in Norway put caps with sensors on college students' heads, and then they compared writing by hand to typing. When the students wrote by hand, far more areas of the brain lit up and communicated with each other.
So interesting. Third, there's a rhythm to a lot [00:18:00] of handwork. There's a repetitive blending. There's stitching, stitching, stitching. There's knit one, purl two. There's kneading and folding and kneading of dough.
And researchers have long linked repetitive crafts like knitting to the body's relaxation response, which is the opposite of fight or flight. You see, your heart receives a message that says
"My friend, it is safe to slow down and relax and enjoy this activity."
And then a team at Anglia Ruskin University in England looked at survey answers from thousands of people. They discovered that people who did hands-on arts and crafts reported feeling happier and more satisfied with life, and more sure that their life was worthwhile. And they compared that feeling of life being worthwhile as big as the boost people [00:19:00] get from the security of having a solid job.
So that means that that carefully decorated cake that you created on a Thursday night might be doing as much for your sense of purpose as your paycheck.
So here's what I want you to note about the research that we've looked at today. Notice the benefits that analog activities bring to you in heart, mind, body, and soul through any simple analog creativity. Your heart slows down, your mind connects, and your outlook on life, it gets a lift.and your soul gets a burst of joy that says you made something today, and that was special.
Now if you're thinking this is all well and good, Beth, but what if I don't have an analog hobby that interests me right now? What do I do? Well, you [00:20:00] know I love a good list. So I went looking for some fresh ideas and here are a few things people are enjoying right now that I thought you might like to know about.
Some of these are free activities and some have a few supplies you might need to buy. And you don't need to try all seven. Just listen and see which one or ones make you think, "Oof, that sounds like fun," and then get your hands busy and because so many of us head to Pinterest to find our next interest or to create a board about a new hobby, I'm going to sprinkle in a little Pinterest trivia
as I give you this list of ideas,
Now, I'm not giving you this info because you need to follow the crowd, but
because I think it's fun to know the trivia behind the things that our world finds interesting. And so that's what I'm gonna be serving up as I give you this list of analog activities.
Number one, mend [00:21:00] something on purpose. Now there's a Japanese stitching style called sashiko, and it's part of something called invisible mending. So instead of hiding the hole with your jeans so people can't tell that there was a rip or a hole, you're going to patch it instead with bright fabric And big proud stitches in a contrasting color or even embroidery.
And you wanna make it crooked and bold, and that's the point. That patch becomes the story of the hole, the rip, in your clothing, your jeans, your sweater. And all you need is a needle and some thread and something with a hole in it. And let's be honest, I think we all have something with a hole in it.
And I do. I have a funny story to tell you about something that my mom and I are using sashiko, for. Now, my mom is a, an amazing quilter, and years ago she and I designed a quilt pattern for my guest room [00:22:00] bed, and it is beautiful. And when Raspberry was a puppy, she thought the quilt was also really tasty.
So one day she nibbled a hole in the middle of the quilt. So Mom and I were discussing how we were going to fix the quilt, and if we could actually fix it.
And my dad had a great idea. He suggested that I design a patch that could be added to the quilt So I drew an illustration of Raspberry holding a sign that says, "I'm the reason there's a patch here," and it was delicious.
And Mom is going to embroider the sketch onto one of the lighter colored fabrics that we used for the quilt. And then she's going to embroider that onto over top of the funny little hole that Raspberry made.
So this is gonna be a great analog activity to cover up the disaster that Raz caused when she was a puppy.
I love this [00:23:00] idea of sashiko and there's so many refreshing ways that you can become creative And it's a great way for you to repair whatever you might have a hole in as well.
So here's some interesting Pinterest trivia. Searches for sashiko ideas went up more than 1,500%. That's a whole lot of people with holes in their jeans. Here's idea number two: become a backyard botanist. So you're just gonna go outside and you're gonna pick up leaves or flowers that you think are beautiful, and then you're going to press them inside a heavy book for a week.
Then you're going to make your own field guide page. So you can tape the pressed leaf or flower down, or trace it, and then color or shade it with your favorite markers, your paint, your colored pencils. And you're the botanist, so have some leafy, flowery [00:24:00] fun, right? And then you can add captions that explain what this leaf or flower was or the event that was happening that made you choose to press that flower or leaf.
Have fun. And Pinterest trivia, they have a name for this idea, and they actually called it the backyard botanist, and searches for dried and pressed flowers, well, they are up more than 450%. It turns out a lot of us must have heavy books laying around, right? Okay, number three: make a zine. A zine is a tiny homemade magazine, and you can make one from a single sheet of paper, a few folds, and a little bit of trimming.
The favorite version that I found when I was doing my research was a birthday magazine, This is a way to, uh, make a magazine all about a friend for their birthday. So this is, like, a cover story [00:25:00] about your friend, their favorite foods, their colors, their hobbies, their horoscope, funny stories that happened, 10 things we love about our friend,
And fair warning, the person who receives this birthday zine will probably keep it forever. Pinterest trivia for you here,
Searches for birthday magazine templates, because you can find them on Pinterest, so just go look them up, well, they went up more than 1,700%. That's the biggest number on my list today. And honestly, it makes sense. I mean, everybody wants to be the cover story once in a while, right? So you might as well make your friend a cover story.
Number four, give your purse a mascot. So what do I mean by this? So this is really fun and very easy, and I have done it myself. I want you to grab some air dry clay and a keyring, and make a tiny version of [00:26:00] something you love.
A croissant, a cherry, a piece of pizza, slice of cake, your cat, your dog. It's silly. And small, and then every time you reach into your bag to get your keys, there it is smiling at you. Now I love working tiny with air dry clay.
I do it a lot, and I do it a lot with my grandbuddies. and it's also super easy to color or paint your tiny, creations with acrylic paint or markers.
And I've made key chains and tree decorations and just, you know, little tchotchkes to sit up on your shelf. They're so much fun. Pinterest trivia for you on this: searches for clay bag charms jumped almost 1500%. So if your purse starts to feel a little underdressed, all you need to do is get yourself some air-dry clay and, uh, make a key chain.
Number five, shoot a roll of film. Did you know that you can [00:27:00] pick up one of those old-school disposable film cameras for about the price of a nice lunch? Yep. You, you get one roll, which is usually around 27 shots, and this, my friend, is very old school. Don't, you don't get a preview, you don't get retakes, there's no deleting.
Every click has to count.
So this means that you look at your world a little more carefully before you click your photo. And then you get to wait for the prints. Remember waiting for things? Yep, It can be fun. Then after you get your prints, start a photo journal with all the creative shots that you have collected.
Now here's the Pinterest trivia. Searches for nature film photography are up more than 200%. leaves, sunset, your dog mid-sneeze, well, it's all fair game. It's all [00:28:00] gonna be super fun. Number six: make a fall simmer pot. So here you're going to, um, get orange peels, couple cinnamon sticks, some cloves, a few apple scraps, and water.
And simmering low on the stove or, or pop it into a Crockpot, it becomes potpourri that you cook, and your whole house smells like a hug. Just keep an eye if it's on the stove so it doesn't boil dry, and top it up with a little bit of water when you need to. And, uh, if it's in the Crockpot, that's probably gonna be a little safer for you people who get distracted like me.
And if you love it, bag up the dry ingredients with a handwritten tag, and you've got a homemade gift that's ready for the holidays. And here's that Pinterest trivia. This one falls under a trend that they've nicknamed Kitchen Witch. It's cozy, [00:29:00] old-fashioned kitchen crafts like herbal infusions and preserving.
Searches for herbal apothecary ideas are up almost 600%. No pointy hat required, but it, it 'tis the season, my friend. So if you want to, wear the hat with pride. Number seven: start a handwritten recipe box. So before the internet, people did this all the time. When I got married, at one of my showers, everybody brought a recipe that they had written on a recipe card, and then somebody bought a recipe box for me and everyone put their recipes in the box, and I still have that box to this day.
Now I want you to ask your friends, your family, your neighbors for a recipe that they love. Have them write the recipe on a recipe card, and that's a real thing, my friend, recipe cards.
Kind of like stationary, but for recipes. And do it in their own handwriting. Don't type it out [00:30:00] because then you get art that becomes your sister's chili recipe, your neighbor's famous blueberry streusel banana bread, your best friend's secret to the best guacamole. A recipe in someone's handwriting turns into a treasure over time, even with all the splatters that might happen when you use that recipe to actually cook and bake.
And yes, you can bring your own favorite cards to share inside the Create Today Going Forwards Clubhouse Recipe Exchange. I love handwritten recipes and the beautiful cards they're written on, and everyone inside the clubhouse loves to share. So there you go, my friend.
Mend something. Press something. Make a zine. Shape a charm. Shoot a roll. Simmer a pot. Collect some handwriting.
So People have noticed that analog activities boost their happiness, and it [00:31:00] boosts their happiness even more when they do these analog activities together. So book clubs, paint and sip parties, cookie exchanges, knitting clubs.
Find something that interests you where people are getting together to do an activity at the same time. So find a class, a workshop, Or just start one with your own friends. Like say invite a few friends over, put the supplies in the middle of the table, and then let the conversation just happen while your hands are busy.
You'll find it so much easier to talk when your hands are busy doing a healing and happy repetitive task. Ask any knitting circle, and I know they will agree. So here's the takeaway for today's episode.
Analog activities are not a step backwards. They don't have to become the whole of your free time. [00:32:00] Instead, I want you to think of analog as a tool in your toolkit for the days when the digital side of life seems like too much.
And for many of us, that's every day.
And here is what I love so much about analog activities. Time spent digitally cannot create real stitches. It cannot carve a pumpkin. It cannot make an amazing chili. it cannot fill a recipe box. The things you make with your own hands becomes a unique piece of your own personality that no one else can copy.
And in a world that keeps getting faster and faster and more artificial, defining and creating something that reflects what is unique about you is exactly why analog time is worth every minute. Inside my framework, going [00:33:00] forwards with your creativity, analog activities are a perfect way to describe the first of the four words, revive, realize, refine, and release.
In the revive stage, this is tending to your energy and to your happiness. It's how you figure out how to slow down and rejuvenate your energy and your happiness before you plunge yourself back into the digital world that we all must know how to navigate. So here is your one small thing for this week.
I want you to go back to our list of seven, and I want you to pick one, just one. The one that made you smile or made you curious or made you think, "Oh, I could actually do that." And now I want you to make a date with it. I want you to look at your week and choose a real day and a real time, like Thursday after dinner, Saturday morning with your coffee, Sunday [00:34:00] afternoon when you have free time.
And then I want you to write it down in your calendar. And since this is an analog episode, I'd love for you to write it on a piece of paper, a Post-It note that you could stick on a mirror or on a cabinet or near your computer. It's gonna remind you you've made a date with yourself to do an analog activity.
And when the time comes, give yourself permission to go and play, not to be productive, not to make something worth posting, not to make something perfect, just play
You owe yourself this little window of time just for yourself. And here's the most important part. The doing is the point, not the finished product. If y- your mended patch is crooked, that's wonderful. you did it right.
Remember that analog clock? The hands keep moving whether we [00:35:00] notice them or not. So this week, let a little of that time be made with your hands.
And if you'd like a plan for keeping your creative energy full, grab my free Going Forwards guide at www.bdi-create.today. Tucked inside this guide, you'll find an invitation to the clubhouse. So come and join me, because in my world, my friend, everyone is creative. And your hands have been waiting for you to let them have time to have some fun.
So get out there and figure out what you're going to do as an analog activity, because it is how you, my friend, will stay creative
