HANDMADE HAPPINESS


A Hands-On Approach to Authentic Living by Judith Fertig


Making something by hand—and getting good at it—can add a welcome dimension to our lives. The art of participating in craftwork gives us a sense of competence and completion that may be difficult to find in our digital, ephemeral world.


A


merica’s resurging interest in arts and crafts today comes at a time when making things by hand seems an endangered activity. Why? In The Craftsman, soci- ologist and author Richard Sennett maintains that making things by hand is an, “enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for its own sake.” He observes that craft and craftsmanship can enrich modern life in ways that might surprise us.


The Arts and Crafts movement, which reigned from the mid-1800s through the early 20th century, was a major response to a commercial trend that steered society away from handmade toward machine- made products in Europe and North America. The movement encouraged amateur, student and professional involve- ment in the making of furniture, decorative glass, textiles, pottery and other forms that are beautiful, as well as functional. Yet today, we face a new barrier to creating more by hand, observes Monica Moses, editor-in- chief of American Craft magazine (American CraftMag.org), published by the nonprofit Ameri- can Craft Council. “Modern life offers a million


32 Collier/Lee Counties swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com


distractions, a million ways to kill time, or at least stand by idly while it expires,” she says. Mindless television watching, puttering around on Facebook or play- ing computer solitaire add up. “Such semiconscious downtime can become a weekend, a habit, a lost opportunity.” Although many people return to an early love of arts and crafts during their retirement years, the good news is that such creative pursuits are also being taken up by young makers, ac- cording to Moses. “The marvel of it is that young people in the digital age are embracing craft so enthusiastically, not just their iPods and phone apps. We’re lucky to live in a time when engage- ment with the practice of craft is expand- ing.” She cites the popularity of buy-and- sell craft


websites such


as Etsy.com, which reported 2010 sales of more than $400


million.


Moses, who makes jewelry in her free time, values handcrafting for a simple reason: “It feeds my soul,” she says. “Other parts of my life focus on the


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