Making is challenging! It’s really fun, but it’s not easy. It also encompasses every aspect of life. So, when someone is creating an event, is that “making” in the “make culture” sense? I say, “yes,” but not everyone would agree with me. Is it a project when I throw painter’s tape on my black-out curtains to seal out more light? Someone might find that a helpful tip, but I’m just trying to help cure my insomnia. Is it a project to swap out the hinges on our cedar chest and make it a pop-up table? We created literally nothing new. Moreover, software is really intangible, even though it takes a lot of creativity, work and problem-solving. Is that also “making”? I would also say, “yes!”

Making is also rarely a linear process. That’s also why “How To”s are both so popular and so challenging to create. The creator needs to realize which steps of trial and error are important to the next person while that next person doesn’t want to re-make those errors. Those errors are essential to learning, but in today’s social media dazzle, we hide those errors away. There’s no reason to be ashamed of those errors: they are more important than the end product. But unless those errors lead to slap-stick comedy, no one wants to see those errors and imperfection is mocked: Cake Wrecks. Our society frowns on anything less than perfection and it’s toxic.

Along those same lines, “making” and creativity takes time. Sometimes years, sometimes a few hours, but that’s easy to forget when the Instagram post has one glossy photo. That same cedar chest project took almost a year (inactive time) because I was afraid of screwing up. I was also afraid it would take longer than my attention span could handle and be half-finished for even longer. Part of creativity and “making” is being able to face those fears and move past them. Sometimes that comes with experience and other times, it takes more pain of not making/doing-the-thing than the fear of failure.