Starting by Finishing

I heard about the "Year of making" project from a friend late last month and have been ruminating on the idea ever since.  I can be fairly literal at times, and the idea of a year of making a thing every day actually made me nervous - I want to end 2015 with less stuff in my life than I have currently, and I don't need to feel an imperative to generate stuff.  Also, it's already a rare day that I don't knit or sew or quilt or work in my garden or in some way or another engage in the act of making.  My life is purposefully set up to enable me to be making -- dedicated space, plenty of materials, time alone or with others when I can be working with my hands.

But still.  The phrase "a year of making" resonates with me.  Partly it's the word "make" which, in the wake of a couple of rough years at my day job, feels very powerful to me.

MAKE... a start

MAKE... a decision

MAKE... a change

MAKE... a difference

It's all about agency, about taking action, about choosing a direction, rather than being banged around by the world.  I want that.  I need that.  I suck at that practice of taking a word and using it as a guide for the year, but if I were going to choose one for 2015 it would be "make."

Also, I know other people are going to be practicing a Year of Making and I want to play along. So I spent some time the last few days thinking about how to define a practice that could go beyond the making that I already do every day.  I settled on two approaches. One is give more deliberate and overt attention to my making, through writing about it, photographing it and spending time with other people who are engaged in making. The other is to bring more intention to it, by focusing on a theme or a set of parameters.  I decided against a theme for the whole year - that way lies a high potential for boredom and an early end to the project.  For me, a monthly theme is the way to go.

My theme for the month of January is "starting by finishing."  I have knitting WIPs, quilting UFOs, commitments I've made to other people to make things.  Some of these are relatively new, some of them are really old; the thing they have in common is that they take up space and make me feel crowded, both physically and mentally.  Finishing older projects won't be the only thing I do this month, but focusing on that feels like the right way both to start the year of making and to clear the decks, mentally and physically, for the rest of the year.

If the idea of a Year of Making sounds good to you, check out Kim Werker's interview with Miriam Felton, and her new ebook intended to give you a jumpstart for your own Year of Making. Very cool stuff!