Creating is Food for the Soul.

The Need to create

What is it about our desire to craft? Of course we do have a need to create homes, utilities and other very useful and needed things. These make life more comfortable, easy and allow us to do something other than focus on our survival.

What about our taking clay and forming pottery? We could always go out and buy ready-made vases, bowls and plates? Why does the potter create from mud on a spinning wheel?

A generation or two ago the use of small scraps of fabric left over from other projects or saved from worn clothing were used to create quilts. These quilts were necessary to keep bodies warm while sleeping in rooms with little or no heat.

Why does the quilter purchase fat quarters to cut into tiny pieces, sew them into larger pieces and with tiny stitches create a quilt or wall hanging?

Painting and drawing began with the cave man. Images of what was seen or hoped for carved and painted on walls inside caves. These told stories of adventures, placed the hope for a good hunt in a place where others could see them and remember.

Stories have been told with words on stone, paper and now on CD. We create fantasy with our words or use our words to warn, inspire or make a statement abut our life and what takes place that we want others to know about.

We craft toys to play with, often mirroring reality. Dolls, little dishes, small trucks and cars, airplanes carved of wood and cast in metal.

I can only answer for myself as to the energy behind why I create. I craft from a place of wanting something to be beautiful. I desire to share beauty and excitement, love and happiness with others.

The joy of crafting jewelry made from all manner of glittering glass and gemstone beads combined with charms of silver and gold moves me into another realm.

A suncatcher that glistens in the sunlight casting dancing rainbows of light allows me to share my love of rainbows and beauty with others. To create a Feng Shui cure with jewels and sparkly beads brings a spirit of warmth and balance to my soul.

Creating, crafting is the food I give to my soul. It connects me in beauty, love and joy with others. Creating sustains my hope for love, peace and understanding among All My Relations.

I am after all, created in the image and likeness of He Who Creates, so I am only following what is set in my genetic code. I create because that is Who I Am.

Donna DeVane
© April 12, 2004