Wellness Wednesday: GH Alum Ryan Paevey Uses Creativity for Mental Wellness

When Soap Hub chatted with General Hospital alum Ryan Paevey about his Hallmark movie A Little Daytime Drama, we couldn’t help but pick the athletic actor’s brain for the latest installment of Soap Hub’s Wellness Wednesday.

Wellness Wednesday — Ryan Paevey

However, Paevey, who played Det. Nathan West, had more to say about fitness than what he does to stay in top physical shape. As the actor’s followers know, he has a jewelry-making business called Fortunate Wanderer. He started experimenting with jewelry-making for a few different reasons, finding out that it was of great benefit to his mental well-being. Read on to learn how Paevey’s hobby not only turned into a business but also helps keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

How’s your jewelry-making business, a division of your website Fortunate Wanderer, going?
Ryan Paevey: It’s going great. I haven’t had a chance to make anything in quite a while, though. I’ve been away busy filming. But I just did a huge upgrade to my home shop. I’m literally cooking with gas. I’m excited to make a bunch of cool stuff.

Did you start making jewelry as a way to cope with the mercurial nature of show business?
Ryan Paevey: Yes, it’s a combination of that and a lot of other things. Truthfully, it was a way to cope with depression [that I’ve felt] from the feelings of not being in control that the industry can give you. I’ve had more traditional modes of employment throughout life – handyman, construction, restaurants — I could always pick up a shift and take on more work. However, as an actor, you don’t get to always choose when you’ll work.

I felt very lucky to have my job at GH when I was there. But I felt like a “stranger in a strange land.” Mental health is something I’ve discussed [with friends] but it’s something that we don’t discuss publicly. At times, I’ve felt like a ship set adrift. Emme Rylan [ex-Lulu Spencer Falconeri] and Kirsten Storms [Maxie Jones] were big into knitting. I’m sure they still are. I thought it would be cool to have a creative outlet, too, and it would keep me from dabbling in other [unhealthy] things.

Did you set out to turn the jewelry-making into a business?
Ryan Paevey: No. It was never meant to be that. But it was meant to give me a creative outlet. I wasn’t trying to sell what I was making. I just needed something to keep my eyes and my hands occupied. Word got out as I started making more pieces and more complicated pieces. People started asking me where they could get them. Then, it turned into a business. It takes more time [to complete items] as I get more creative. I discovered that I really liked doing it and I wanted to get better at it.

Were you self-taught?
Ryan Paevey: You’d be blown away by what the “University of YouTube” can help you learn how to do. There was a period of trial and error and some generous souls in my life parted knowledge upon me. I would stare at my materials, my metals, and my tools until an idea would form. Then, I’d try and do it.

How long into the process did you find that jewelry-making helps you out with mental well-being?
Ryan Paevey: Pretty quickly, honestly. When you’re feeling lost, if you’re just sitting around and doing nothing, you can end up really focusing on those feelings. I don’t mean to say that a distraction is all that’s necessary but it can help the healing process begin. One of the most potent weapons I’ve ever had against my “dark” – aside from going out into nature – is feeling productive, feeling useful. Nothing will make you feel depressed like feeling useless. [Working with my hands] gave me something to do, something to focus on. There was no pressure on me to produce “x” number of pieces.

Just doing something, working with my hands, creating something out of nothing – beyond the raw material – all made me feel like I had a piece of power back in my life. I enjoyed making things. It was fun, an innocent fun, almost childlike. The healing was quick.

What else do you do physically to help stay in shape – both physically and mentally?
Ryan Paevey: I was a gym rat for a really long time. Now, I’m a cautionary tale for my friends about fitness. Fitness changes over time. When I was younger, fitness meant going to the gym and picking up heavy things. Over the years, I injured myself – small gradual injuries that take a long time to catch up with you. I’m happy now to re-evaluate how I work out. These days, I’m still active; I hike and surf quite a bit. But I think my days of deadlifting Volkswagens are over.

I stretch a lot. My fitness these days has nothing to do with what I see in the mirror. These activities make me better at the stuff I want to do. I want my “machine” to run well. I’d love to have kids someday and be a family man. I want to be able to go running with my kids. I’m thinking about what I’m going to be in the future, so I’m going to start changing my habits now.

You can check out Paevey’s site, Fortunate Wanderer, by clicking here. A Little Daytime Drama, which premiered last weekend, has encore performances on Thursday, August 26 at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday, August 29 at 12 noon, and Saturday, September 4 at 5 p.m. ET.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.