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Turning Wood Scraps into a Phone Stand: A Small Antidote to Anxiety
I’m writing this at the end of May 2026, and the world feels increasingly tense and overwhelming. If you don’t notice it, then you’re probably one of the truly lucky ones.
In my previous posts, I’ve shared how certain objects can carry deep personal meaning. The kuksa I showed earlier was carved from an apricot tree that was just a small sapling when I moved into this house nearly 30 years ago. Over the decades, I watched it grow, enjoyed its fruit, and admired its blossoms. Eventually, the old tree had to be cut down. But the kuksa I made from it – with its beautiful growth rings visible in the wood – will always remind me of those long years.
When I finally cut the well-dried wood, some small pieces remained. They could have easily become firewood for the stove. Instead, I decided to give them a new life.
Sometimes anxiety hits hard.
In those moments, endlessly scrolling through the news only makes things worse. What helps me is simple, honest handwork. So I took those apricot wood scraps and turned them into this modest phone stand.
Nothing fancy. No complex design. Just a quiet, pleasant project that allowed me to switch off my mind and focus on the feel of the wood under the knife.
A small but important reminder:
We can’t control most of what happens in the world. What we can control is how we respond to it. When anxiety starts to take over, it’s often better to close the news feed and do something with your hands – even something as small as carving a phone stand from leftover wood.
Creating something tangible, even from scraps, brings a sense of calm and control that endless information consumption rarely provides.