When I was a young adult, I remember thinking, I am never going to be one of those old people who constantly says that things were so much better back in the day. Now, as a much older adult, I find myself doing exactly that, but not about the things that you might think. I am reasonably onboard with most of the technology the rules our days. My issue is with basic life skills, or what are now not so basic life skills.
When I was a kid, things like cooking, baking, sewing, knitting, woodworking, etc, were not hobbies. They were skills that people needed to make their way through life. If meals were going to be eaten someone had to cook them. Homemade bread was less expensive and much better tasting than store-bought. Clothes were sewn and sweaters, hats, and mittens were hand knit. That’s the way things were. If people needed things, they made them. Because they could.
As a kid, I was taught these things by my parents and grandparents. My dad taught me to bake bread. My mom taught me to knit. My grandmother taught me to make applesauce. I still do all of these things because I enjoy them. I am one of the lucky ones who had others to teach me. So many people my age and younger were never given the opportunity to learn these things. And because they are skills that were once passed down from generation to generation and that is not happening much anymore, creating things from scratch is truly becoming a lost art. This is sad to me in its own right, but this has a negative impact that is much farther reaching.
Think about how stressed society is right now. Peoples’ stress levels have increased logarithmically in the last few decades. Why? Because we don’t have enough down time. We don’t stay grounded. Down time, time to calm the mind, used to be found while doing these repetitive daily tasks like stirring a pot, knitting, or hanging clothes on a clothesline. Heck, in my city, It’s not that people don’t hang out their clothes to dry, it’s that we can’t; there is an ordinance prohibiting outdoor clotheslines in your yard!
Think about it. When you are kneading bread for 5-10 minutes, that is really all you can do. And while you are doing it, you feel the bread come to life. You know what it is supposed to feel like. You put a part of yourself into it, perhaps in the form of nervous energy, or maybe just the warmth of your hands.
I love lima beans with slippery dumplings, the ones that my grandmother used to make. I asked my grandmother for her recipe shortly before she died. My grandmother rattled off the list of ingredients to which I said, “How much of each of those things do I use?” She told me to mix the flour, shortening, and water until the dough “feels right” and season it with salt and pepper until it “tastes right.” Because she helped me through the process once, I now know what “feels right” and “tastes right” are, but how many people would have no idea what that really means? Not just with slippery dumplings, but with anything handmade that involves such a symbiotic relationship with the ingredients and the process?
Then there is knitting..with the combination of seventh grade home economics class and my mom, I learned to knit. My first completed project was a lovely orange garter stitch scarf for that home ec class. After that, I put down my knitting needles…until I was pregnant with my first child. Then, I wanted to make blankets and booties and hats for my baby just like my mom and grandmother had done for me. I realize now, I wanted to keep the tradition alive. Fortunately, knitting is kind of like riding a bicycle; though I hadn’t done it in fifteen years, once I picked the needles up again, muscle memory kicked in and I went to town. Almost twenty-nine years later, knitting is still an integral part of my daily life.
I made sure to teach my girls to knit when they were pretty little, maybe ten. They have each completed projects, but I wouldn’t say that they are avid knitters. That’s okay; I trust that if they ever have the desire to pick it up again, they will have no trouble doing so.
Cooking and baking are another story. Both of my girls love to cook and bake. I am not responsible for the totality of their interests and skills, but I do take credit for showing them, by example, that creating in the kitchen is “a thing,” a significant thing. They would do their own baking for school events and their peers would be amazed. “You made that?” Such a response made me proud of my girls but sad for the other kids
It hurts my soul that many of these skills that I learned as part of normal everyday life are now elitist endeavors. People charge, and others will pay ridiculous amounts of money,$50 an hour, to learn how to knit or bake bread! No. No. No! Part of the experience in learning these skills is in having someone who loves what they are doing show you how to do it! Because my grandmother and I made applesauce and slippery dumplings together, making them now is not only about having a finished product to eat, but it is also about keeping a part of her alive, about reliving cherished moments together. Making them is something that I deeply love doing.
Share the love. Make sure that you share your skills and talents with the younger generations. Do it for them. Do it for you. Do it for the world.
from Tracey G.