Do you remember the smell of your grandma’s cookies fresh out of the oven? Your grandfather’s stories? What about the hobbies they tried to share with you — the ones your child self thought were so boring?
When members of Generation Z were younger, we were taught that many of the hobbies integral to human history were for the elderly, not us. They were bland, time consuming and under-stimulating. Many of us never would have imagined these hobbies returning to popularity. I certainly didn’t.
But if you’ve been online lately, you probably already know that these so-called “grandparent” activities are making a resurgence. Tags for “grandmacore” and “grandpacore” are flooding social media, urging for a return to these often overlooked art forms — crochet, knitting, baking, embroidery, sewing, gardening, etc.
Partially influenced by these trends, I too have taken up some “old” hobbies. I crochet lopsided bumble bees, bake cookies and garden tomatoes. But for me, there was always something more to this trend than nostalgia: there was peace.
In a world full of constant noise, stress and fear, it can feel impossible to step away from the chaos. Social media is overstimulating and overwhelming, the news is full of terrifying situations, and we’re left to figure out how to deal with the emotions. So, what better way than to step away?
The return to these hobbies shouldn’t be shocking, but it shouldn’t be seen as a trend or aesthetic either, because it isn’t. It’s a cultural movement and a symptom of the current human condition.
Our needs as people — as human beings — aren’t being met the way they used to be. Call it a first-world problem, but for many, there’s very little hope. Politics are nearing a tipping point, prices on everything are rising, and humans are returning to one of the only things we ever intrinsically understood: expression.
Self-expression is one of the major ways to destress. For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, humanity has used the art of self-expression to convey what’s important to us.
Crochet is a form of expression. Knitting, too. Embroidery, baking, gardening — you name it, it’s an art form. And right now, these forms of art are expressing a need for a less overstimulating, terrifying world. A world we can build.
One day, maybe we won’t have to seek solace in grandparent activities. One day, when we’ve fought for and won a calmer, more peaceful world, we’ll be thankful for these little moments of peace. We might even be able to look at our own grandkids, who question why we still bother with these hobbies, and answer: “Because I’m human.”
If you aren’t already, consider joining this movement. I’ve never regretted a moment away from social media, or unlearning the lingo of the younger generations, but I have regretted every hour spent panicking because some influencer said the world would end tomorrow. There’s a time and place for social media, and that isn’t always.
