Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild

Idle Hands/Idle Minds

I spend an awful lot of brainpower trying to understand what makes people do the things they do. The older I get, the less I do this, but I still do it too much. The only thing that has seemed consistent to me is that people who have constructive interests, hobbies, passions, or meaningful work sure seem to find a lot less trouble than people who do not have one or more of those things.

Just to be clear, I think most work, as in paid employment, is meaningful, whether the worker feels that way or gets treated that way. Actually, we have an awful lot of people who have lost sight of just how meaningful trades work is to us. Here is an example: This morning I got up to find water on my kitchen floor from a leak in the water line under the sink. We, theoretically, could fix that ourselves, along with the shower that has been leaking, but my husband is pretty good about calling in the professionals who can really, really fix things right. I called a few different plumbers and found that most are still weeks out due to a shortage of licensed plumbers and an overwhelming amount of work to be done. Let me assure you that the work of plumbers is really meaningful when you are facing the prospect of no showers, no toilets, no kitchen sink, etc.

Thankfully we do not have small children and we do actually have a good, old-fashioned outhouse if we really need it. When the plumber comes out here, I am going to remind him yet again how important his work is and how appreciative I am of him. I want him to know how much his work matters.

This past weekend someone was telling me about the community she lives in. One comment she made is that almost no one in her community seems to have any sort of hobby or interest apart from watching TV and playing the occasional card or domino game. That sounds like a ticking time bomb of a community to me.

On the other hand I am about to go spend a few days with my parents who are 82 and 86. I am taking my mom some leather scraps for the book-binding she has taken up along with a stand embroidery frame for her latest “slow stitching” projects. She is very excited to show me how she’s been making her own paper for her books. My dad will be having a surgery done, which will keep him from his workshop projects and lodge activities for a few days, so we will have our hands full trying to keep him quiet as he heals.

We went by to see my husband’s 87-year-old aunt the other day—she stays busy with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, in addition to her involvement in church and her embroidery projects. Every one of these octogenarians are lively, bright, engaged, and have a positive outlook on life. Not one of them has time to think up destructive things to do.

To summarize, I think humans are built to work and are happiest when we are doing something constructive. With that said, I have to sign off so I can go finish the dress I started making last week, do some laundry, tend to my animals, pack for my trip to see my parents, etc., etc. You can bet I will be too busy to get myself in trouble! Spring-CreekArtsGuild@gmail.com