Friday, August 28, 2009

Spreading the Drop Cloth for new Creations!


People always seem to want to know what I’m up to. What art or craft project am I smitten (okay obsessed) with today, what’s for dinner tonight, what did my table look like for last Saturday’s dinner party to honor a good friend, how I decorated for the holidays, who got what handmade gift for a birthday, or what new “green” element I’ve added to my life to do my part to preserve our planet.

Being new to blogging, but not so new to life, I am smitten with the idea of sharing my experiences with others. So in order to enhance my readers’ visits with inspiring and evocative content, I signed up for a four week blog triage class with Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris.

Initially my blog was born out of a passion for living a deliberate and satisfying life beginning with a sort of “stop the madness” attitude about our stuff – especially our obsession to have so much of it! See now that we have it, we have stopped loving it, want to get rid of it, or worse, look to make room for more stuff.

Make This From That teaches us to take what we’ve already got and turn it into something new, beautiful, and useful. But as I started exploring the concept, I made some new friends along the way and found that visitors to the blog wanted even more. They were interested in dropping by for some inspiration in their day. It’s as if they were sitting at my kitchen table with something delicious to nibble on and a cup of tea just to see what I’ve been up to. Some days it’s to ooh and aah over a recent rummage sale planter I adopted to store fabric in. Other days it’s a delicious recipe to inspire better eating using seasonal ingredients or revisit forgotten recipes. Maybe even a terrific color combination to incorporate into their wardrobe.

Discovery in the day to day, expressing ourselves through art, and especially giving to others by creating a legacy through loving hands is one way to bring new meaning to life in these unsettling time and also a way to inspire my hungry readers.

Question: What would you like your legacy to be? Will your great-grand children know your first name? Well, if you’re not going to be president, there are other options.
Think about it: Anyone out there got things in their closets that were made by their grandmothers, aunts, great-grandmothers, or grandfathers? Stop for a minute and think about how much you treasure these items. This is, in most cases, their legacy. It’s what lived on after they were gone and is full of their love through the time it took to create it. A hand-crocheted afghan, an embroidered piece of table linen, an end table, a hand-written recipe card with a favorite Thanksgiving casserole. Our generation is heaping “made in China” fodder onto the landfills. There are very few who are interested in creating family heirlooms or gifts from the heart and hand. The pleasures in our home come from production lines, plastic factories, or oil.
And then Consider this: Compare the idea of replacing the shallow gift card habit with something hand made. Even if you don’t knit, or paint, or bead, you can create something truly delightful from your kitchen – no oven required, and in less time than it takes to run to the local BIG BOX store for that card. AND you’ll save money, and probably your health or even the planet!

It’s time to rethink what we’d like our legacy to be and act on it in small steps that result in a wonderful journey to a happier, more satisfying life.

2 comments:

  1. I like this. You make your point very well. Bravo.

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  2. I have been around long enough to watch the Chinese stuff explosion. I am grateful for people like you that see the value in hand made treasures from the past. And who see a future for items usually cast aside.

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