Saturday, February 9, 2008

It's Revolutionary


I was interviewed recently by a college student doing a paper on the Crafting movement and one of the things she asked me was why I thought DIY has had a such a large surge of interest? I think people are tired of the generic nature and poor quality of mass produced goods. We live in a disposable society and that can be very soul damaging to think that there will be nothing left for our children to remember us by. I think the pendulum has to swing the other way and this generation is embracing a way to leave a legacy.

She also asked me why I create things and it really made me think. At first I thought about the reason in terms of how creating pretty wearable objects from fire and glass helps improve my mental health and that's very true. But that's not the answer in terms of why I am a part of the craft revolution. Then I realized that I create in part to leave a little of myself behind for the next generation. I think the members of this movement are very smart to take back some of the control from a technology that has truly gotten away from us. It runs our lives. I think creating says to the world, "I matter." For me it's a way of connecting with the world. Remember how good it felt to bring that construction paper june bug you made in kindergarten home and have your Mom put it on the fridge for all the world to see? That's the feeling I want to capture every day when I create. So this is my June Bug world. It will still be here long after I'm gone and for that I'm very happy.

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