Think Making

Well, I finished the last of the ten projects promised today and now I am onto the next woodworking masterclasses project, which began with a clean-up and put-up of the shop and a sharpen-up, as always.

We must stay isolated here. It's to soon to return with confidence yet. This place feels bigger everyday and tells me that there should be ten people more here. My two apprentice friends are sad about not being here and are doing their best to stay positive. We have stayed connected as best we can but working together has become important to us all. I send pics of their work area or share a little face time or video with them but I cannot pretend (and neither can they) that it is even a close second.

The important thing for everyone is to spend even just a small amount of time making. Making is not just busywork you might give to tots to stimulate their interests and teach them about life's textures. No, making is as intrinsic to us as using our eyes, analysing data, working to thought patterns, such like that.

Making is about planning and thinking ahead, where critical thinking is woven inextricably into the things we make as much as the act of making itself. It's about decision making, prioritising, processing and so much more. In a world where such processes are now handed off to AI, CNCs and so on, finding a piece of steel for a blade to be made from, or stitching leather into a fly swat leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling where, well, fulfillment abides.

When life seems all the more out of focus than in, it is important to think make. I don't care what it is, really, but something useful comes to mind, like a hissy snake or a sandbox