The Spiritual Benefits of DIY and Self-Sustainability

With the current pandemic keeping many of us at home, stressed, and away from loved ones, it’s become a bit more challenging to maintain and further enhance our spirituality. Simply put, the past several months have been overwhelming mentally, emotionally, and even physically. However, this pandemic has also created the opportunity to find new spiritually-beneficial practices and tasks. One great example is, do it yourself projects. 

DIYing can benefit you spiritually by increasing your awareness, confidence, knowledge, and creativity. We often find greater satisfaction for the things around us when we’re directly involved with the creation process. This can go as far as having a hand in building your home or smaller, such as starting an herb garden. 

DIYing also has ties to self-sustainability. The Spirituality and Sustainability Initiative, which was founded in 2015, strives to uplift the idea that sustainability betters our awareness and understanding of our world’s resources, dynamics, and significance. 

If you’re currently in a spiritual rut or looking for more ways to include sustainability into your life, here are some tips to help get you pointed in the right direction. 

Learning to Live by Your Values 

When you picture do-it-yourself projects, you might lean towards images of seasonal home decor or fun art projects like the kind seen all over Pinterest. However, DIY projects don’t always necessarily have to involve a glue gun. While DIYing your next holiday wreath can be a therapeutic way to relax and take your mind off of things, it’s not the only way to incorporate DIY into your life. 

Doing more tasks yourself, whatever they may be, often allows you to live more actively by your chosen values. For any typical DIY project, you are the one choosing the materials and methods used for said project. You are also able to ensure things get done to your moral standards. This is why DIYing makes such a great avenue for spirituality and with the right tools and knowledge, a sustainable hobby. 

How to Reduce Your Home’s Footprint with DIY 

One factor that’s almost certainly changed during this past year is the time spent inside our homes. Due to remote work, online classes, and decreased socialization with loved ones, our homes have had to suddenly work overtime. With so much extra energy and resources being spent throughout the past several months, it’s safe to say that you and your home both need a recharge. 

With such a sudden increase in things like energy and water usage, you might find yourself becoming concerned with the long term impacts the pandemic will have on the planet (in addition to the economic and social impacts). Considering the physical and spiritual importance of our homes, it’s worth strengthening the connection between you, your home, and more sustainable actions. One way you can start more clearly understanding the workings of your home is to start tracking your home’s monthly energy usage. While that might seem like one of the least spiritual things you can do, consider for a moment the ties between sustainability and our spirituality. 

In addition to the holistic roots of sustainability, our environment often reflects our inner world of emotions, thoughts, and meditations. But what happens when that environment becomes stressed and overworked? How can we find peace and rest in a home that weighs heavily on the shoulders of Mother Nature? Perhaps that’s a cheesy way of putting it, but our actions, or lack thereof, rarely fail to impact those around us. We may be one person, but we are still connected to our communities, our countries, and our world so it’s worth finding ways to take care of the environment, starting within our own homes.

Instead of going through the motions of simply opening up your next power bill and sending the necessary payment, try being a more active participant. This, as previously mentioned, can be calculating your energy consumption and then working to lower and improve it. It also looks like starting a vegetable garden, big or small, and growing some of your own food. If you have the funds, a great DIY project that can help reduce your household’s water consumption is installing more water-efficient appliances. These days you can find and install yourself several sustainable gadgets such as water-saving showerheads or aerators for sink faucets. 

The possibilities are endless, and whatever you decide to do, it’s a great way to reconnect with your home while also reducing its overall footprint on the planet.

Working to Fill in the Gaps 

It’s perfectly fair to admit that none of us can do everything ourselves. So, it’s worth keeping in mind that most DIY doesn’t have to be limited to just your skillset and knowledge. Even during those occasions when professional help is needed, there are still plenty of opportunities to contribute and focus efforts towards more sustainable and holistic approaches. 

For instance, while you may not be able to construct a new facility that provides essential resources for victims of abuse all by yourself, you can participate by preparing the property in advance before the land clearing crew begins their work. You can utilize online resources to help you design a landscape from scratch that will serve to brighten and enrich your local women and children’s center. All of this also goes for projects at a more personal level, such as home construction and remodeling. While you may not be able to do it all, there are certain areas where you can step in which helps ensure the project stays as close as possible to your standards.

Whether you’re a DIY veteran or a newbie, stepping outside the realm of your “typical” do it yourself projects can help expand your comfort zone. Reconnecting with the environment, your home, and yourself can help ground you and strengthen your spirituality.