Why you as an adult need to make Something
Something…anything.
One of the things that I found when I moved back up north and got “a big girl job” was that I suddenly had the time, energy and money to take part on hobbies. Combine with the pandemic and everyone starting to bake and get into these kinds of things, I’m not ashamed to say that I was a perfect fit for this trend. I was working from home, didn’t have to really go anywhere and had the time. I had been running for years (Border line unhealthy during, before and after my divorce) but I was looking for something that wasn’t so physical too. I’m a big fan of engaging every part of your mind. During the day I would in Accounting (Math), I run (Physical) and I read and writing constantly (Mental). I had never much thought of myself as artistic. I knew that I was creative because of the writing- but I had never found an artistic niche. My whole coming to ceramic story can be found in my “Meet the maker” post.
But this is something a little bit different. This is about how human it is to make something with your hands- how this is a fundamental part of being. Making tool is obviously what makes us primates. But it is surprisingly something that a lot of people don’t do. Never mind that we have been told that we should be investing all of our effort into working. As an adult (Specifically as a femme adult) we are expected to put all of our effort into two things. Family and work…or work and family. Of course either of these are your decision and valid…but having this be all of you can be troubling. It can cause burn out on both of those things.
Appreciation: I’m not a prepper. I don’t have a basement of canned goods but I do believe that when you know how things are made be that food, mugs, glass, metal, cars, tables, whatever, you have a deep appreciation for them. People of course always ask me for discounts and sometimes even balk at my prices but when I look at who those people are, they are never other makers.
Community: I have never met a more accepting community of not just potters but also other makers in general. That kind of community is hard to find these days but once you start making things- you’ll be shocked at the community that you find.
Engaging different parts of your brain: There is just something about making something physical. Something that you can use and feel and touch and see. It really engages you in a very fundamental way. I’m sure that there is something physiological about this- but I don’t know it. All I know is that there is satisfaction in making something physical. For me this is different then writing.
Gateway: No matter what craft you do, no matter what you decide is your media, I promise that you will find your way into Home Depot or Lowes. I have learned how to do electrical work for my kiln, watched videos and learned how to wire things, bought more tools then I even have had in my life- ect. You learn to do a lot of different things when you have a physical hobby. Not just that- but once you rewire something or sand something down or make something, at least for me, something just clicked. That something is “Oh my god. I can just do that.” I can just put up a new lamp, I can pull a wire, I can paint my walls, I can mend things. It’s the start to everything.
Mental Health: All of these things contribute to your mental health. You should not just be going to work and then going home. Some of us have to and when I was working in restaurants, I was so broke and so tired that it was nearly impossible to do anything else. But this was a spiral and I just kept getting more and more depressed and more and more tired. Not just my own mental health suffered but the people around me did too. This is without kids. I have a father who does nothing but work. Its all he has ever done and while I understand that’s a ‘good work ethic’ and how he was raised- I also always knew from a young age that he was and is profoundly unhappy. Having hobbies, things you enjoy, things you make, just can make you happy. If I do ever have kids, I want them to know that they should be happy and do things that make them happy. The best way to do this is by example.