Making It
I once hosted an All Soul’s cocktail party. I remember because it was kind of an eccentric occasion, on a weeknight and in honor of a rarely celebrated holiday, at least rarely celebrated with cocktails. I made the invitations by hand. I can still – twenty years later – picture the paper stock I selected, a heavy construction grade in burgundy and rusty orange, and a patterned paper with both these colors and black in a marbled design. Thick felt-tip calligraphy pens, in black, brown and rust, a few lines of clever text, burgundy envelopes and stamps with an autumnal spirit.
I invited all my friends and colleagues from work, thinking of each person individually as I hand-made every invitation. When the exercise was over – two hours and two glue sticks later – I stared at the pile of crafty envelopes and felt supremely satisfied. The work I did then (and do now) keeps me in brain. It was a nourishing pleasure to have been working with my hands.
One year, back when the Paris metro tickets were green, I saved all my used ones and cut them into the shape of a fir tree and pasted them on to home-made Christmas cards. It took me the entire evening, at least twice though Ella Fitzgerald’s Swinging Christmas album and nearly a bottle of wine. I remember feeling it was an evening extremely well spent. I’m tactile, I love to cut and paste.
But during this last year? I made a goal book, the result of an inspiring goal-setting exercise into which I inserted my favorite activities of cutting and pasting and making collages. But that’s about the only cut and paste I managed to get to.
What did I make? Aside from the meals, and the beds?
I made a tribute to my mother that honored her well. I made new bonds with my siblings. I made new friends. I made trips. I made mistakes. I made progress. I made a lot of memories. I made a living. I made love. I made my way. I made it up as I went along.
But next year, I’ll make more things with my hands. It makes me happy.
I’m participating in Reverb10, and this post is in response to a prompt from author Gretchen Rubin: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some timer for it?
December 9th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
As you have seen, our dining table is filled with the stuff I make – or I should say, am in the process of making. I realized I need to do something like knitting, or card making, or rug hooking, or whatever, to feel like… like me. Sometimes I don’t get to it, but I love sweeping my hand through the fabric or appreciating the colour of the old wool for hooking. Or imagining all the other things I want to make in the future. Though I create in many other ways (not the least of which is what to make for dinner that I can bear to cook, and the four others can bear to eat), creating something through my hands is the best. The last thing i made was a “three year sock” for my brother; if I don’t get the other one made in time for Christmas, he’ll have to frame it. Yours in stitch and bitchery-kunyi
December 15th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
I’ve been behind in my blog reading. The way I work through my reader is perhaps peculiar, but I do all the easy ones first, and the savory ones later. Somehow, I kept putting you aside, to savor, later. Finally, I’ve read through the last dozen of your posts – about your mother, about De Facto, about making time for handwork. Can I tell you this? I’m so pleased to know you.