The Work of Our Hands

In feminist writing, there is a lot of talk about women being creators.  Post-structuralists sort of throw this and the idea of inherent gender qualities, away from themselves.  Other feminists urge us to embrace our feminine urge to bring things to life.  I have to write a paper about all that today, but you probably don't, so I'll abandon that for a lighter discussion.

All humans, I venture to say, have been proud of something they have made with their own hands.  There is something thrilling about altering matter completely.  Women, in our culture and many others, do have the reputation for being crafty. I don't mean to connote snake-like conniving, though we're perfectly capable of that too.  I mean, we make nice stuff.  Meals, baskets, clothing, blankets, gardens, photographs, sculpture, memoirs, novels, furniture, pottery, songs, etc. Some of us are more artistic than others. Nothing I've made can ever be as high quality as mediocre fruit of my sister Kelly's hands.  Kelly says "I'm going to make an elaborate birthday cake for my son" and creates something that looks like she's gone to chef's school.  She remodeled her kitchen with her own hands.  Some of us might think "I have never made a thing I would let see the light of day!"

There must be something.  It's not about how perfect the rest of us would deem it; what does it mean to you?  Or is there a certain category of things you like to make?  Why? What is special about your creations? What about you is reflected? If it was a gift, what were you trying to convey? Do you feel joy or peace or anticipation when working on it?

I play at artistry. My cakes usually don't look exactly like the picture in the cookbook, and I think painting my kitchen and cabinets was as close to remodeling as I should come. But I still like to make things.  I like having beautiful things around me.  I like expending creative energy.

I have my friends duped into thinking I'm good at knitting.  I'm not.  I'm a one-trick pony.  But it's a nice trick. I like giving hand-knit baby gifts, if I can find the time. A baby's arrival in the world is worth the finest of celebrations, and I want my loved ones to know how precious I think their babies are. There have been exceptions - if I know your mom will present you with 50 baby items she crocheted, I'll probably buy you something else. Or if you've explicitly said "I hate homemade baby gifts," you will not receive one from me.  Otherwise, I love imagining, picking out yarn and buttons, a style that fits what Mama might like and who this baby might be.  I pray and try to knit love and good thoughts for the new little person into it.  And they usually are super cute when they turn out.  Once I entered a bunch of sweaters in a fundraising event and found I didn't like impersonally (and furiously) knitting a bunch of sweaters. Maybe I don't do as good a job unless I can personalize.

Maybe you have a project you are working on this weekend. It seems like it might be one of those March weekends better spent indoors, here.  Whatever you end up doing, I hope your creative spirit will get a little exercise.