Gratitude for Hand-Made and for Mass-Produced Objects

One of Phil's oldest and dearest friends lives in Montana. I've still never met him, although we've enjoyed a few long phone conversations together. His wife, whom I also haven't met, and who is lively and talented like him, is a potter, amongst many other things. Phil commissioned some bowls from her, and they arrived with us recently.

 They are so beautiful, and each one is both unique and congruent with its fellows.

 There were plates to go with them too. The postal service was unkind to two of the plates, and we are sticking them back together in the Japanese Zen tradition of breaking a new cup on purpose and sticking it back together so that it is always unique.

We live in a physical environment of such staggering beauty, and tend toward utilitarianism. I have a beautiful mug but drink out of mason jars endlessly. So these bowls are a precious reminder that even utilitarian items can be a locus of beauty. As products of nature ourselves, we can create beauty, just as nature does. And yes, nature creates ugliness too. But just as my experience of life heightens,when I pay attention to words I choose, make them the most beautiful that I can produce (or when I read or listen to someone else doing likewise); being surrounded by beautiful objects even in mundane tasks is uplifting, too.

I sometimes get a little down on myself around this area. I am more inward- than outward-looking, and being 'handy' doesn't come naturally to me. Creating food and gardening are my only exceptions to that--exceptions with which I'm well pleased, of course.

But as we move toward making our cabin a more comfortable and copacetic living space, I find myself very grateful for mass produced items that allow me to get there without overreaching myself. Since we moved the dominating futon out of the cabin, we've appreciated the space, but lacked a comfortable sitting spot. Now, thanks to the excellent advice of Phil's daughter and her mom, who have all the smarts when it comes to design and remodeling, as well as an intimate knowledge of the Ikea catalogue, we have two Poang armchairs in our life and space. They're small and light...

 ...and they have a natural rocking motion to them...

...and I put them together in less than thirty minutes each!

Yes, little unhandy me--I did it! And so far, they haven't collapsed at all!

There is no way that I could have made as comfortable and convenient a pair of armchairs from scratch, all on my own. And certainly not in less than thirty minutes.

So, I find myself grateful both for the artists among us who create things of beauty that give us pause through our days as we feel that beauty, that art, that integrity of intention; and for the technology that allows even a non-carpenter like myself to assemble two armchairs to enhance our living space. I guess it's a lot like my stalwart preference for making everything from scratch, but genuine appreciation of high quality prepared foods that can be purchased in a pinch.

I'm up to my elbows in the 'turn little side room into kitchen' project, with wonderful help and advice from the two awesome ladies mentioned above, and yesterday we hiked our socks off at Captain Cook State Park with our friend Terry.

We hiked twelve miles, saw some awesome rocks and other cool things, had to put a serious schlep on the return leg to elude the large high tide (we were confined to that ice shelf that you see in the background and it was quite exciting). I can barely believe that I could do this--I don't think I could have done such an arduous hike even a month ago.
Some more pics from that in my next post, together with an energy bar recipe that I made for myself and am pretty pleased with.

Do you appreciate man-made beauty? And mass-produced furniture?