The Importance of Handcrafting

In this modern frenzy of mass-production, the idea of handcrafting has been long forgotten.  Why would you make something when you can buy it for so much cheaper?  Time is money, and all this time spent making things is money that could have gone to something else.  Free time is somehow so much better spent playing video games and the like.  Isn't that what the marvels of modern society is about?  Having all this free time to be idol?

Often times people forget how much better hand made goods are.  There's the obvious factor of creating heirloom goods to pass down through the family, true, but there's so much more than that.  Hand made goods are of such a higher quality.  They last longer and have a more personal touch.  Yes, it may cost more for the supplies, but don't people always say that you get what you pay for?  Then let's look at the time of entertainment and work in making it, and knowing that the product you end up with is a unique handcrafted item.  Better still, it can look any way you want it, using fabrics, patterns, and colors that you wouldn't normally buy pre-made on the market.

Handcrafting in this day and age has economic benefits too.  By staying busier, there's less idol time for boredom eating, video gaming, and everything else.  Because it takes time, there's less idol time to require entertainment.  As a result, time is more productively used, meaning less time has to be spent on diversions.  Since the diversions yield useful things, it means less money needs to be spent on useful things.  All in all, the money paid out does countless times more work than your average store-bought item.  There's the standard buyer's high that most people get when they by something new.  Then there's the joy of making something and seeing it finished.  Finally, there's the enjoyment of the finished product.

I think, perhaps the charm of handcrafted items has been forgotten.  Too many people think of it as something for old women at craft fairs.  They look upon hand-made items as things for the poor.  Their viewed as having a homey quality, sure, but not seen as anything beautiful and creative as once they were.  There was a point when home made was better than store bought.  Now we seem to see it the other way around.  It's kind of tragic and sad.

We really need to get back to the idea of handcrafting, for all it can do for ourselves and our families.  In these hard times, we've got to take every kind of positive pass time we can get.  If nothing else, it will teach future generations to once more honor the idea of hard work, and to enjoy the benefits of something made with love.