Why To Make Things

A collection for Paul Kirwin based on this prompt: “I’m a retired custom woodworker. I find community in the writings of others that have found satisfaction and comfort and value in the crafting of things. I’m not looking for ‘How-To Make Things’ books but more like ‘Why To Make Things’ books”

Alex Dobrenko

Extending the metaphor of carpentry, it’s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that’s your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that’s based on certain principles.

William Zinsser • On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Making a Place on the Web - Garden

Making ceramics requires patience and is an exercise in delayed gratification (or dissatisfaction). There are so many ways to fuck something up, so many stages to the process, and entering that cycle of hope, expectation, and either failure and trying again or ecstatic satisfaction added a new dimension to the rhythms of my life.

Marian Bull • When a hobby becomes a job

A chief gladness of gardening comes from its dual nature, from how it salves our longing for making order out of chaos but also frustrates it. There is elemental satisfaction in the reminder that we can never fully control nature — that, in fact, any sense of control is a childish fantasy, for we ourselves are children of nature, made by the... See more

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

Studs Terkel • 2 highlights

amazon.com

Lego Mindset vs. Woodworking Mindset

Scott Stevenson blog.scottstevenson.net

Making nice things is difficult and time-consuming.

If we want people to make nice things for us, we have to pay for their rent and grocery bills and raw materials

No More Boring Apps | (Not Boring) Software

(Not Boring) Software Inc.andy.works

good example of someone creating things with soul and heart