We visited a friend yesterday.
There in the middle of his lawn stood a crazy contraption – a tall, empty gas tube, lawnmower engine balanced on top, and two halves of a plastic barrel hung out like wings on the sides. It looked like some sort of strange flying machine.
He proudly announced to us that this was his new kitesurfing pump.
The wind spins around the barrel-wings, causing the piston in the motor to move, and compressing the air, ready to pump out from the valve he’d attached.
He’d made it all from things found at the dump, it took the better part of a Saturday, and made him feel like Albert Einstein.
There’s a simple joy to be found in making things.
It could be a pie for a friend who isn’t feeling well. It could be an incredible house made from recycled windows like this couple. It could be a card, a table, a contraption that helps you balance your laptop in bed while drinking tea at the same time.
It doesn’t really matter what it is.
As humans, we have an in-built yearning to make stuff. To put something together with our own two hands, step back, admire it, and know that it is uniquely ours. You can’t get that feeling when you walk into a store and buy something that comes all perfect and packaged.
The creativity and delight only comes from the process of making.
By making, you give something of yourself back to the world – putting in, rather than taking out.
So don’t be a taker.
Be a Maker
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