From reverb10:
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 time for it?
I really like today’s prompt, because it’s reminded me to consider the different forms and flavors of creativity in my life.
The easy answer to the prompt is that I made vegan spaghetti sauce and sauteed chickpeas yesterday. For the past year or two, I’ve been cooking a couple of main dishes on the weekend for the week ahead. That way, I only need to cook vegetables and rice during the week, which are easy to keep up with. (I’m the cook of our family; my partner does the dishes, which is a nice trade-off.)
Sometimes cooking feels like alchemy: taking an onion, some dried beans, and spices, and making something tasty and nourishing sometimes seems like magic. Sometimes, however, it’s just what I do on Sunday afternoons. When it’s challenging, when I’m trying something new, or when I’m working with the dregs of the vegetable drawer to invent something, then it feels like making something. I enjoy it more when I’m tuned into the creativity that’s involved.
What else have I made lately? I realized that for me, to make something means it’s finished — it has a clear boundary or stopping point. You know when the casserole is baked. That’s why writing doesn’t often feel like making something, because the boundaries are too fuzzy. You can always go back and revise. Online projects are a bit closer to making something, for me, because when you hit “publish” that’s a clear boundary.
I like making things, although I spend more time fixing, cleaning, or re-making then making from scratch.
I like working with my hands, although I spend more time creating digital objects.
These are good things to be aware of. Something to think about next Sunday afternoon when I make the soup.