All of the women in my family are makers.  In the seventies, my mother whipped up gauze-y caftans while my little sister and I made troll clothes out of the fabric scraps scattered about the floor.  We hand stitched purses and pillows.  We strung tiny seed beads into necklaces. To this day, I’m happiest in my studio, channeling the women who came before me and remembering those summer days at my mother’s feet chattering nonstop with her and my sis.

I find when I don’t spend regular time creating, I feel off somehow, not quite right, as if something is missing.  You know, life gets crazy.  There’s a job, and grocery shopping, and a 15-month old black fur ball full of energy.  I find if I have just one project that I can grab quickly, even if I only knit for a bit while watching a movie, or do a quick collage in my art journal on my lunch hour I remain steady.  Whole.  Complete.  Can you relate?  Am I even making sense…??

I read recently that making has a “haptic quality”.  Haptic, you know this word?  On my iPhone, I flip this switch “on” and it makes little vibrational taps when I perform certain actions like touching and holding the camera button on my home screen, as if my iPhone is saying, “I got you, here’s your camera, click away.”

I sort of think making works the same way.  The making, for me, is less about the finished project – the pillow, the art journal, whatever – than it is about the process.  It’s the tactile quality, the brain-to-hand connection, that puts me into a sort of flow state and, although I’m thoroughly engaged in what I’m doing, I lose all track of time, forget to eat, have to set a reminder to let the dog out.  To me, the process of creating is sort of the glue that connects my mind and body, even spirit, and fulfills me in a way that not many other things do.

What about you?

What holds you together?

What are your connecting threads?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.