There was a time when every person, save maybe a king, queen, or large land owner was responsible for the acquisition of, making of, trading for, growing, sewing, inventing, building, carving, whatever things were necessary to live. We had many urgent necessities, daily, just to continue to live. There was a "CAN DO" spirit...especially in the United States.
Today, though, the most access we have to farming is on a little game on facebook. Nothing against the games, but when was the last time you actually MADE something from start to finish. Or even bought raw materials and completed a project.
It feels as if we are not involved in our own lives. I'm not saying we should revert back to the often harsh times of yore...but we certainly could return to a life where we can stand back and proudly say "I made that!"
Imagine if you woke up this morning and there was no water in the house--because you needed to go to the well or a spring to fetch a pail of water. Imagine if there were no heat in the house--no logs on a fire--because you needed to go into the nearby woods and cut down a tree--drag it to your homestead--and continue to chop it into pieces suitable for the job you had at hand, and start that fire without matches! Breakfast won't come out of the freezer and into the microwave. The eggs are under the chickens you keep and you have to gather the eggs, and feed the chickens, and protect the chickens from coyotes and fox.
Clean clothes?? Yours come from the store, made by people in stuffy little dark buildings in another country where the workers are treated like slaves--but at least you are fashionable for a reasonable price. What if you didn't have any clothes unless you, your ma, or your gram stitched it by hand for you, or knitted it from wool from your cute little lambs...which must be daily cared for, fed, watered, protected, sheered, carded, combed, spun...
The blankets you slept in were probably quilts made with love by a family member or close friend. The house that you live in might have been put up by family and friends.
There are things that you might purchase or trade for--iron skillets and pots, shoes--though you may rely on home-made moccasin-style shoes made from the hide of the deer you went out to hunt with your dad, uncle, or grandpop. When the shoemaker came through--you generally provided the leather for any shoes to be made or repaired.
Laundry wasn't tossed into the washer and then into the dryer...you first made your own soap, heated water in a large boiler, and "cooked" the clothes. Of course, you had to fetch the water for that, too. Clothing and bedding and towels...were hung on lines in the sun to dry. No fabric softener, save the cloth flapping in the wind. We still have to fold our clothes...except that back in the old days, there were very few clothes indeed, so folding a few items was the least of their worries.
Bread had to be baked, or tortillas rolled, or biscuits, or flapjacks...didn't come from the freezer to the toaster--or from a packet or box mix. You had to at least buy the flour, (if you didn't grow and grind and store that, too), the sugar, baking powder. You might have honey if you knew of bees, or maybe kept a hive. You might have strawberry preserves if the crop did well, or you traded with the neighbors giving them canned tomatoes in return.
You didn't just run to the radio or TV or internet if you wanted music or news...the music you made by yourself--either humming or singing--or when work was done--playing a fiddle-- or maybe a banjo or flute.
Christmas started in July--of necessity--you would need to plan and make your gifts, which might consume quite a bit of time, especially if you wanted to keep it a secret!
We no longer "invent" because we no longer are presented with problems within our control. So little is currently in our control. If the Federal government doesn't have some say so over you about it, the locals find a way to. We haven't lost the entrepreneurial spirit--it has been diverted away from our vision with all the wonders of grocery stores, and Walmart's and Target's...talk about your general store!!
If that weren't enough, there are DRIVE-THROUGH everythings...from food, liquor, flowers, dry cleaning, and WEDDINGS! We don't have to DO ANYTHING. It's no wonder that we often feel life passing us by...IT IS!!! We have lost our life to convenience!
With convenience we get something that is very inconvenient...a lack of a sense of accomplishment; that special feeling that you get when you have made something with your own two hands. We deny ourselves a sense of confidence that we CAN take care of ourselves.
We also lose the ability to think outside the box. If we can't buy the eggs at a store...we can still have eggs...just go to a restaurant or fast food place.
We don't have to PLAN for anything...we don't have to have contingent plans for when something goes awry...like rain. We don't have to pay attention to what someone likes or dislikes for gifts...we can always get them a gift card or cash!
We are not as obligated to make sure that things get done, in a timely fashion, and with excellence. (If you have a garden, or animals, you MUST keep them fed, watered and protected, 'cause if you DON'T, you won't have food, or garments.) We don't really have a clear idea of how that feels. Sure, we know that if we don't work, we can't pay the bills--on the other hand, the government or a church or a family member will be there to shore us up.
Many people don't understand "saving for a rainy day", the way we used to understand it.
I am grateful for all the wonders of the grocery markets, the butchers, the dairy, the shoe stores--really glad and grateful for indoor plumbing and flush toilets instead of outhouses!!
Working for money alone is lackluster. I am always impressed that I could go out today and find silver made by Paul Revere--by his own two hands!! We used to sign our names to what we did--or put some maker's mark on it. Men used to carve wooden spoons for their mother's, their wives, or their sweethearts...and they often carved hearts or "fancies" of some sort onto them. Which would you rather use in the kitchen? A spoon that was made by hand with a heart on it (by someone you loved) or a spoon that was made at a factory with machines?
I have made my own formals. It was a lot of work, and I have worn other "fancy dresses", but I felt differently in the ones that I worked an extra job to earn the money to buy the fabric to make my own dress. I altered them slightly to my own desires. I used fabrics which I chose out of dozens of choices. One of a kind...truly.
I have done many things by hand--rendered tallow from a deer to make tallow candles, embroidered, knit, crocheted, petite point, needle point, bargello, rug making, candle wicking, painted with artist's paints--acrylic, and water color...not so much with oils.
I have painted houses, inside and outside. I even painted my mailbox with a waterfall scene on it! I have made my own recipes, and won awards for them at the fair. I have sewn some curtains totally by hand because I had no sewing machine, but needed some curtains. I've made up board games and pencil and paper games. I planted gardens and weeded and watered and sheltered from the weather...and prepared the foods for freezer or jar or dehydrator. I have gathered wild foods and taught others how to do so. I have grown plants from seed to seed, and used my own seed to plant the next year. I have written stories. Stories for children. Stories of fiction and articles of fact. I have fished, caught, and prepared the fish to eat--though I will concede that either my father, brother, or husband cleaned the fish for me! I have helped butcher deer and elk, and tanned a hide. I have made bread, pizza, biscuits, cornbread, waffles, pancakes, hush puppies, noodles, gnocci, runzas, ravioli, cakes, muffins, pies, cookies, puddings, ice creams, candies, chocolates and marzipan, prickly pear cactus jelly, decorated cakes with frosting flowers...
I have researched our families histories and met wonderful distant relatives if only by phone, letters, and internet.
I have churned butter. I have made jewelry, make-up, hairspray, medicines, clothing and bedspreads. And I am only getting started, the list goes on and I seem like I am bragging.
My point is that we are denying ourselves a lot of pleasure and self-confidence just for the sake of convenience.
To be truthful, I used pre-made frozen waffles in the toaster, store bought eggs, and pre-cooked bacon this morning for breakfast. I don't feel the least bit guilty either. It's been a long week, (a long few months, really) and I KNOW that I can do things on my own, from start to finish. I am grateful that I have this choice. I am also grateful that I have taken the time to learn how to do things, both tangible and artistic.
How sad that we are creative beings who no longer feel the need to create, invent, or make...we feel the need to ACQUIRE...for acquisitions sake. Women like shoes and handbags...so we acquire closets full of them. Men like fancy cars and big TV's--so we acquire them. It doesn't seem to me that we are all that happy with them either...the next one that comes out--we have to have that, too. We go after THINGS that are "pretty for nice, but not bully for stout"...a favorite saying of my grandmother.
When we look back on our life...will we really be that thrilled that we collected a complete set of "whatever"? Or will we look back and reflect on the times we spent with our family and friends...a fish fry or a picnic. I remember the dress my mother made for me with the Scotty Dog buttons down the front. I had lots of other dresses, but I only vaguely remember those. I remember the hair ribbons my grandmother made for me, but not so much the ones purchased at the store. My husband is very fond of the items his grandfather made for him...and his grandparents also purchased items for him, but he hasn't saved them. The cookies I remember are the ones that we used to make, not the store bought ones. The home grown watermelons, the strawberries and shelling peas.
The really good thing about things you do with your hand is that your mind is still free (for the most part to wander, ponder and continue to be creative...or amuse yourself with song, or memorize favorite bible verses or long poems). It used to be that one person would read while the others did whittling, carving, sewing, washing dishes, or cooking.
I don't know when we stopped doing things for for ourselves, but we haven't done ourselves any favors. If we concede that we are made in the image of God, then we must also be creative...sometimes I may feel physically exhausted from doing something creative, but I also feel energized in my spirit.
