Living a Handmade Life
Hello Dear Ones!
I have been feeling too connected to my computer and phone lately. It’s been creeping up on me. All of a sudden, I just need the router turned off. Phone silenced. Emails and apps and inboxes closed. I was out on a walk the other day, and felt a thrill within myself as I noticed, “I am not at my desk, I am nowhere near my computer. Instead, I am surrounded by trees, and this feels so good!”
Does this ever happen to you? That you just suddenly have had it with being plugged in to all the technology and the zoom and social media, etc., etc., etc..?
The antidote to all of this is to live in, and be conscious of, our bodies again. To be deeply in the experience of our body, as it moves in the world.
I was raised in a family that prioritized doing things with our hands. Designing and creating with our hands repairing things, stacking wood, raking leaves. My hands and mind were deep in cooking, sewing, knitting, sanding, gardening, handwashing woolens, building with whatever tools were needed, figuring out a creative way to repair things… And, more often than not, we were working together in these things. This was the family culture I grew up in, and it ran centuries deep.
The tools of our ancestors were a part of this. The cake pans that my great grandmother once used to bake gorgeous wedding cakes for her village were the same ones we used to bake for our birthdays. As we baked, I learned more and more about her. My grandfathers’ tools were in our family workshop, and part of the work we did as a family. Using them invariably led to stories about them.
And. It was more than tools. It was also stories and lessons on honing our skills. The voices of my parents echoed the stories and voices of our ancestors. This is how who we are. This is what we do. This is how we do it…. From mending, sewing, making our beds, working with wood and nails and hinges and electrical wire… it all held stories and lessons and teachings.
Over the many decades of my life, I have homed in on a few ways that this really serves me. Returning to enagaging my hands ALWAYS brings me home to myself. For example, the last two weeks have been BUSY. In the midst of it all, I’ve been in and out of quietly hand-sewing an adorable little racoon with wool felt, because it anchors me. The deep quiet, with hands in motion, centers me. And then my best thinking happens from this very still and quiet center. And- on Friday mornings I hand-sew with other women. With our hands busy, our hearts crack open and we connect deeply about what it is to be mothers and grandmothers in this era, with these children. Our best thinking happens together synergistically. It’s kind of magical.
I now call this Living a Handmade Life. The kind of living that keeps our hands engaged in the act of being human. Hands engaged in real life.
Living a Handmade Life is my inheritance, and it is the thing I was born to share with the world. It has taken me decades to realize that not everyone learned these things. Not everyone was offered these skills, these stories, these experiences. So, I’ll be talking about this more and more over time.
I’d love to know: Did your childhood hold any of this? Have you noticed the way that having your hands working on something truly calms and centers you? Are there certain kinds of handwork that really resonate with you? Have you made this a part of your life? If not, why not? And how can you?
I really and truly would love to hear from you. Does this resonate with you, and would you like to embody this more, or hear more from me about this? How does this land as you read it?
In deep gratitude for everything in this sweet life,
Rebecca
* Disclaimer: This likely goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Everything I write is for educational purposes only. Nothing I write or share can be deemed diagnostic or medical advice. Nothing I write or share can replace your own healthcare providers or your own internal knowing and wisdom. Period. Please seek tailored medical care and advice via your skilled healthcare team whenever you need it.
