Making

Thoughts that occur to me as I am puttering in the kitchen, mostly.We are all makers. Creation is a human drive. You can see it in the play of the youngest children. They put things on other things, inside other things. They fit things together and take them apart. Yes, thy destroy, but they build too--on instinct, in every environment, until/unless they're taught that making of this or that is something left to others. I love the maker movement, where people are reclaiming the idea that anyone can make anything, that perfection doesn't replace personal involvement. Don't know how to do it? I should try. For fun.That element of playfulness seems critical to embracing any act of creation. Whimsy and laughter should have a place as well as concentration and determination. Beating myself up about flaws doesn't encourage growth nearly as much as poking gentle fun and finding the funny side of them.The part of making I like best? Failure is encouraged. Expected. Necessary, even, and thus sapped of stigma. It will still and always sting, and feeling that pain needs to be embraced and made acceptable too, not treated as a personal failing. Teachers who nurture those new to a making need to remember both these points. We makers of things need to remember them too. It's okay to be frustrated. It's good to feel imperfect. That means there's still lots to learn.The best environments and cultures nurture making. Innovation is the byproduct reiteration and failure. When at first you don't succeed, try, fail, try, fail, try, and fail again.The first castle will sink in the swamp, burn down, fall over... But the fourth one, or the four hundredth one... It will stand. And I'll get to say, proudly, "I made this!"Time: 8:45 AM (I DID IT! I managed a morning post)Tea: Irish BreakfastSteep: 5ish minutes