Reading. Jamming. Planting. Hiking. Loving. Running. Weeding. Baking. Sketching. Painting. Building. Carving. Wrenching. Cooking. Dancing. Collecting.
It is all just a way of making - making art, joy, health, home, sustenance.
Let's all do more. (This is where I get all squishy)
Making something with your own hands/abilities/skills is a super rewarding thing.
It does not have to be a hand crafted porcelain ornament, it could be just keeping a spider plant alive for more than 2 weeks, or making a batch of basic easy cookies off the recipe that is on the back of the bag of chocolate morsels.
Maybe you like to take photographs other people doing what makes them happy and this is transitioned into prints.
Maybe you are a musician and your product is not visible or touchable but can lift peoples hearts and make them jump and bounce and clap.
Maybe you are able to keep that 1958 Apache running smooth, or know just how to soothe a kitten before a spay or neuter surgery.
Each of us has abilities that make us feel valued, capable, happy, when we make use of these talents. So many people I have known say "I'm not creative." or "Art isn't my thing.", hell, I have said (and will say again) "I suck at painting". THAT IS PERFECTLY OK!!
Finding a way to include some sort of making in your life is personally enriching and can also be publicly enriching. It may even increase sustainability and integration in your community and neighborhood. Maybe your joy comes from handy man work or gardening... well, it just takes a little networking and bartering and you may be able to share your abilities with someone that desperately needs your assistance. The joy that you get from doing and the appreciation of someone who sees your skill and finds value in it is worth more than a few bucks. It is worth your health, your confidence and maybe even an improved quality of life for you and those around you.
Making a child’s eyes light up with a handmade toy or the appreciation of fine lace work by a great aunt or grandmother that initially taught you to bend fiber in your wee youth.
Hearing the rumble of the car (finally!) that you bought broken down when you were 16 to restore with your cousin, mom, step dad, mentor. Having a friend proudly hang your personal expression in oil or acrylic, or watercolor over their entry way or mantel. These things nourish us emotionally, mentally and can even feed us spiritually.
What is your happy place? What do you do different than everyone else? Maybe you are not a Picasso or a Mozart, or even a Tina Turner, but dammit, if it makes you happy, MAKE IT.
The strength you receive from being authentic in who you are and what you do is infectious. You will start to gather others around you that resonate with your loves and ways of life, other inspired people that are makers, or they want to be...
I bet just a little time spent making something that makes you feel good will lead you to find a group. Having a pack of like minded individuals around you may even lead to inspiration and getting more ideas. You may even find that you feed into their muse pool and provide a different perspective and spark ideas in others.
Eventually as you dip your toes further into your special kind of making, you will likley end up with a support system of crazy awesome people. You will share laughs and agonies, stories and support, and open dialogue that is based off of honest appreciation and equally honest critique.
You can walk away from the shaming, bullying and rumors of the unwashed masses and learn to look to yourself and your crazy pack for force and inspiration.
You will build others up around you and create that community that feeds us all.
How about you go and make something.
I dare you.
—S—