hand-made life
While reviewing various resources on mental health, I came across a concept of a “hand-made life”. It grabbed my attention and made me pause and think about what it may mean for us and for our mental well-being.
When I think about “hand-made”, a farmer’s market with hand-made objects comes to mind. And they are definitely in fashion. Vendors charge premium for hand-made jewelry, hand bags, items of clothing, pottery etc. Why is that? Why do we want to buy “hand-made”? In the era of mass production and factory-made goods, hand-made items seem to offer something really special.
In my mind, “hand-made” means unique, one of a kind, made with care and passion, authentic, produced with solid, real materials.
So, with that in mind, what would a “hand-made life” look like?
Just like hand-made objects sold on farmers markets, “hand-made” life is unique, one of a kind, made with care and passion, authentic, based on solid, real foundations.
In my view, this is the kind of life, which is created by each one of us, without undue influence from others. It is a life untouched by other people’s expectations, it is a life which is authentic, in integrity with oneself, even though it may not fit into society’s traditional definitions of success.
I imagine a hand-made life is the kind of life, which was not handed to us as a pre-made template to follow (e.g.: “finish school, become a lawyer (or a doctor), get a job, get married, buy a house, have children, don’t you ever get divorced etc.”). But rather, it’s a life we created from scratch according to our heart’s desires, our true passions, and our inner compass. Even though our family may not have approved. And we created it on a solid, real foundation of care for ourselves and others, integrity, authenticity, self-confidence, and trust in ourselves.
It sounds a bit too idealistic, right? After all, our choices have surely been influenced by our family, our society, our church, our friends, or our teachers. It is often hard to distinguish what is really ours, in terms of wishes and desires, and what was handed to us by our surroundings as a spoken or unspoken expectation.
One test of whether we are living a “hand-made life” is simply whether we are happy and at peace with who we are. If we are not, if our mental and emotional well-being is somehow compromised, it may be time to evaluate that life of ours and see what changes can be made.
If there was one thing you could change, which would bring this precious life of yours to a more “hand-made” state, what would it be? A small change can have a big impact as it starts moving us in the direction of a more authentic life. Some examples of small changes to make are:
deciding to take half an hour every day for yourself to read, dance, walk or just simply be without anything to do, or
making time on a regular basis to talk to your best friend, or
signing up for those piano lessons you always dreamt of but never had time for, or
learning French, or
planning a trip to Machu Pichu.
These are just some ideas of small things to do to make incremental changes towards a more authentic and happy life. My choice towards a more authentic life this week was to find time to research and write this message. I have realized that writing my blog to you all feeds my “hand-made life”. So, thank you for reading!
What would be your “hand-made” change? I challenge you to come up with one this week and implement it. Let me know what came to mind for you.
