Stephani Stephenson on thu 21 mar 02
There's just something I have to say here.
first: this is a deep, thick, wide topic and these issues are at the
very heart of our lives.
I appreciate the depth of thought and reasoning in previous posts .
I think a 'hand made life' is part of the nub, kernel of my life, for
whatever reasons.
But I was also a young woman during the 'back to the land' movement in
the mid 1970s in the US
I was one of the younger footsoldiers for you older boomers.
We formed food coops, ( I was usually the one hauling the bags, not the
director) we farmed, we gleaned, we canned , we made tools and houses
and pots .
we wanted involvement with the sources of our lives.
wanted the food in our reach from seed to fruit
We wanted that earth -oriented, handmade life,
'Think globally, act locally', 'every decision is a political decision',
and so on......
I was greatly inspired , at age 14 by the first Earthday, and 'ecology'
was my life.
That was what was happening at that particular time.
But I later discovered, in an end to a certain innocence,
that people living 'the handmade life'
can be just as close-minded, small hearted, power hungry, petty,
obsessive, elitist and unaware
as ANYONE else on earth. (NOT saying all are)
At this time I also came to realize that a more important influence in
my life was the civil rights movement.
I think it dawned on me when , living in a rural cooperative , I saw the
local 'back to the land' cooperative
school basically work things so that no one in the area 'who thought
differently' or had 'a different philosophy' could have their children
attend the school. They thought they were protecting their kids, but
there was a deeper ugly vein to it.
I had heard the same statements as I had heard with other blindly
exclusionary groups:
Only difference was the speakers had long hair, natural fiber
clothing, and organic foodstuffs.
Handmade houses, handmade life, and still there was rot at the core.
I had grown up in a rural area, so in many respects I felt more akin
to the local rednecks, though I didn't share all the views there either.
My point is, you could find narrow-mindedness , hatred and paranoia in
individuals on both sides of the fence. And you could find compassion
and joy and integrity in individuals on both sides of the fence. The
accessories, the accouterments, the lifestyle really wasn't the sole
barometer for the type of individual, though , yes, it is often a broad
indicator. Handmade or not didn't seem to matter, really, in itself, in
the quality of the individual. Purely subjective statement of course.
Also I think we are people of our times and the culture of our times. As
such we get caught up in the 'styles' of the time, the patterns of
living. We are imprinted early and then we age .Hopefully we learn and
grow wise.
Many in an older generation can't stand wood floors , always wanted the
most modern, mass produced of everything.
Why? In their childhoods they saw nothing but the dust and poverty of
the depression.
Some of them wanted to wipe away the reminders of it in their everyday
environment.
Connection to the earth was a grinding, wearing thing.
I realize my perspective comes from an 'either/and' type of brain,
moreso than the 'either/or' type of brain.
So yes I love what is handmade, and make my living on what is handmade.
But when pursuing it remember, as I think the previous posts are also
saying
it IS not JUST about that .
Sometimes there is purpose and truth and honesty in your pursuit.
and there may be something in the process of making
but sometimes accessories are accessories
our human plumage.
Stephani Stephenson
Carlsbad CA
Valerie Hawkins on fri 22 mar 02
My parents were hippies of the chop wood, carry water, live off the land
variety. It was a very hard life - no running water, no electricity,
vehicles that couldn't be counted on to run. My brother and I went through
our adolescent years with a great deal of false bravado. We were so
obviously different from the other kids at a point in our lives when we very
desperately just wanted to blend in.
I value what I took away from that experience. I can fish, hunt, garden,
cook, bake bread, can food, make syrup, jelly, etc. Split wood, build a
fire and cook over it, sew, crochet, make candles ....but I would never put
my kids through the same experience. I love and admire my parents. But I
feel that their choice of that lifestyle was self-indulgent. It's hard to
explain, but my brother and I felt the deprivation so much more keenly than
they did.
I don't know. There are so many degrees of the handmade life aren't there.
I mean, are any of us clayarters Amish? Most of my food is made from
scratch, but I buy most of my groceries. We all have a crocheted blanket on
the bed. My sons pj's were all sewn by me this year but only because I
couldn't find what I liked at the store. I have garden veggies where I can
fit garden beds and more and more of our tableware and bakeware has been
made by yours truly, but I just bought a dozen plastic drink cups at wall
mart.
So, did this note actually go anywhere? Maybe not. I'll just close by
saying I bake my own bread, but I buy some of it too. I have a strawberry
patch, but how would I make a strawberry daiquiri without my blender. I sew
my son's pajama's, but I wear Ralph Lauren jeans (bought at the RL Outlet
store with a coupon). I'm a stay-at-home mom, but my son is watching TV
while I type this note.
Valerie
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Stephani Stephenson
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 11:39 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Handmade life
There's just something I have to say here.
first: this is a deep, thick, wide topic and these issues are at the
very heart of our lives.
I appreciate the depth of thought and reasoning in previous posts .
I think a 'hand made life' is part of the nub, kernel of my life, for
whatever reasons.
But I was also a young woman during the 'back to the land' movement in
the mid 1970s in the US
I was one of the younger footsoldiers for you older boomers.
We formed food coops, ( I was usually the one hauling the bags, not the
director) we farmed, we gleaned, we canned , we made tools and houses
and pots .
we wanted involvement with the sources of our lives.
wanted the food in our reach from seed to fruit
We wanted that earth -oriented, handmade life,
'Think globally, act locally', 'every decision is a political decision',
and so on......
I was greatly inspired , at age 14 by the first Earthday, and 'ecology'
was my life.
That was what was happening at that particular time.
But I later discovered, in an end to a certain innocence,
that people living 'the handmade life'
can be just as close-minded, small hearted, power hungry, petty,
obsessive, elitist and unaware
as ANYONE else on earth. (NOT saying all are)
At this time I also came to realize that a more important influence in
my life was the civil rights movement.
I think it dawned on me when , living in a rural cooperative , I saw the
local 'back to the land' cooperative
school basically work things so that no one in the area 'who thought
differently' or had 'a different philosophy' could have their children
attend the school. They thought they were protecting their kids, but
there was a deeper ugly vein to it.
I had heard the same statements as I had heard with other blindly
exclusionary groups:
Only difference was the speakers had long hair, natural fiber
clothing, and organic foodstuffs.
Handmade houses, handmade life, and still there was rot at the core.
I had grown up in a rural area, so in many respects I felt more akin
to the local rednecks, though I didn't share all the views there either.
My point is, you could find narrow-mindedness , hatred and paranoia in
individuals on both sides of the fence. And you could find compassion
and joy and integrity in individuals on both sides of the fence. The
accessories, the accouterments, the lifestyle really wasn't the sole
barometer for the type of individual, though , yes, it is often a broad
indicator. Handmade or not didn't seem to matter, really, in itself, in
the quality of the individual. Purely subjective statement of course.
Also I think we are people of our times and the culture of our times. As
such we get caught up in the 'styles' of the time, the patterns of
living. We are imprinted early and then we age .Hopefully we learn and
grow wise.
Many in an older generation can't stand wood floors , always wanted the
most modern, mass produced of everything.
Why? In their childhoods they saw nothing but the dust and poverty of
the depression.
Some of them wanted to wipe away the reminders of it in their everyday
environment.
Connection to the earth was a grinding, wearing thing.
I realize my perspective comes from an 'either/and' type of brain,
moreso than the 'either/or' type of brain.
So yes I love what is handmade, and make my living on what is handmade.
But when pursuing it remember, as I think the previous posts are also
saying
it IS not JUST about that .
Sometimes there is purpose and truth and honesty in your pursuit.
and there may be something in the process of making
but sometimes accessories are accessories
our human plumage.
Stephani Stephenson
Carlsbad CA
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