I had the honor of attending my daughters’ girl scout talent show the other night. Nothing too formal, but still amazing to watch. I walked into the linoleum floored gym-a-cafetorium in the elementary school and took a seat on a folding chair in the second row.
The girls performed all kinds of things...poetry reading, hula hooping, singing, karate and a twirling number (that’s baton, for all you old folks out there) …but my all-time favorite, had to be…(drum roll please…)
Crocheting. Yes. Two little girls sat in chairs and crocheted! You know, with yarn? For about two minutes (with Justin Beiber music as their background) they sat and crocheted a row of yarn. (“Baby, baby, babyyyyy Ohhhhh!!!") HOW STINKIN’ CUTE IS THAT?!?!? COME ON! I was never that creative as a kid. But hey! That’s a talent. Who cares that they didn’t sing, or tap dance? That was gutsy. And cool.
And, I’ll say it again: they CROCHETED.
It just makes me smile thinking about it.
I think what’s even better than them performing it as a talent is the fact that these little girls are learning a craft and a skill that our great grandmothers and great, great grandmothers probably knew. With so many video games, texting and other electronic hobbies, it was cool to see these little girls doing something so basic and fundamental. To be able to crochet a hat, or blanket, or sweater…something that is handmade and functional, is pretty darn amazing. With so much crap being produced in foreign countries, made out of (probably) toxic/cheap plastic by children getting paid pennies in a sweatshop, it warms my heart to see that these little girls are learning such a productive, crafty skill. Kudos to them! It made me think about the wonderfulness of handmade items.
I have to say, I think handmade gifts are fabulous. It shows your thoughtfulness and more importantly, that you gave freely of perhaps the most precious commodity in the world…time. You spent time – minutes, probably hours, and perhaps days of your precious time working on something for someone else to show them how much you care. It’s not the end result – not the item itself – that is so remarkable (although, it could very well be a work of art in itself) but the time spent is the most precious gift. It speaks volumes to the person receiving it. I truly understand and appreciate the effort and preciousness of that gift of time. Those who don’t, in my opinion, are unfortunately too self-absorbed and I think it is shameful. Think about it: how valuable is your time? When you have it, what do you spend it on? How do you enjoy it? Time with your children, time talking to loved ones, time spent at work making money to pay for your lifestyle, time spent enjoying a favorite past-time like golf or running, time watching your favorite TV show or reading a good book…
Now imagine giving it up. For someone else. Choosing someone else’s joy over your own. That is what giving a handmade gift is to me. Yes, the gift in itself is usually wonderful. But the time that person took away from their own life to make it for me is priceless. It shows love, devotion and thoughtfulness. Remember that, the next time someone gives you a hand made gift.
I think one of my next adventures will be to learn how to crochet. One of my friends tried to teach me a few years ago…I got impatient. I did it for about an hour and was done. I never made it to a blanket. I did one three-foot strand of carefully twisted yarn…and then I was done. But maybe one of you will be the lucky recipient of my first crocheted project! (Okay, maybe the second. After all, I gotta keep the first one, right? Plus, it’ll probably suck. You wouldn’t want that one anyway.)
*If you liked this blog - please click the FB button below and/or and click on the link to LIKE Adventures of a Nobody on Facebook!
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The girls performed all kinds of things...poetry reading, hula hooping, singing, karate and a twirling number (that’s baton, for all you old folks out there) …but my all-time favorite, had to be…(drum roll please…)
Crocheting. Yes. Two little girls sat in chairs and crocheted! You know, with yarn? For about two minutes (with Justin Beiber music as their background) they sat and crocheted a row of yarn. (“Baby, baby, babyyyyy Ohhhhh!!!") HOW STINKIN’ CUTE IS THAT?!?!? COME ON! I was never that creative as a kid. But hey! That’s a talent. Who cares that they didn’t sing, or tap dance? That was gutsy. And cool.
And, I’ll say it again: they CROCHETED.
It just makes me smile thinking about it.
I think what’s even better than them performing it as a talent is the fact that these little girls are learning a craft and a skill that our great grandmothers and great, great grandmothers probably knew. With so many video games, texting and other electronic hobbies, it was cool to see these little girls doing something so basic and fundamental. To be able to crochet a hat, or blanket, or sweater…something that is handmade and functional, is pretty darn amazing. With so much crap being produced in foreign countries, made out of (probably) toxic/cheap plastic by children getting paid pennies in a sweatshop, it warms my heart to see that these little girls are learning such a productive, crafty skill. Kudos to them! It made me think about the wonderfulness of handmade items.
I have to say, I think handmade gifts are fabulous. It shows your thoughtfulness and more importantly, that you gave freely of perhaps the most precious commodity in the world…time. You spent time – minutes, probably hours, and perhaps days of your precious time working on something for someone else to show them how much you care. It’s not the end result – not the item itself – that is so remarkable (although, it could very well be a work of art in itself) but the time spent is the most precious gift. It speaks volumes to the person receiving it. I truly understand and appreciate the effort and preciousness of that gift of time. Those who don’t, in my opinion, are unfortunately too self-absorbed and I think it is shameful. Think about it: how valuable is your time? When you have it, what do you spend it on? How do you enjoy it? Time with your children, time talking to loved ones, time spent at work making money to pay for your lifestyle, time spent enjoying a favorite past-time like golf or running, time watching your favorite TV show or reading a good book…
Now imagine giving it up. For someone else. Choosing someone else’s joy over your own. That is what giving a handmade gift is to me. Yes, the gift in itself is usually wonderful. But the time that person took away from their own life to make it for me is priceless. It shows love, devotion and thoughtfulness. Remember that, the next time someone gives you a hand made gift.
I think one of my next adventures will be to learn how to crochet. One of my friends tried to teach me a few years ago…I got impatient. I did it for about an hour and was done. I never made it to a blanket. I did one three-foot strand of carefully twisted yarn…and then I was done. But maybe one of you will be the lucky recipient of my first crocheted project! (Okay, maybe the second. After all, I gotta keep the first one, right? Plus, it’ll probably suck. You wouldn’t want that one anyway.)
*If you liked this blog - please click the FB button below and/or and click on the link to LIKE Adventures of a Nobody on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adventures-of-a-Nobody/183648281666069?ref=ts
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