Linking, connecting, being a part of something and it in turn being a part of you... it's called connection and I think more and more in our ever connected world, people are craving a more meaningful connection. As a creator, so much of what I make is in a studio, behind closed doors and in solitude. Many of the makers, the tinkerers, the doers types I am so blessed to have poking around in my world have expressed at one time or another, how isolation itself, the act of creating alone, isn't much of a sparring partner for their inner muse. Creativity, that magical ability to connect the random dots everyone sees in such a way that a picture emerges, is so much more meaningful when one can actually share that discovery with another.
Awhile back, whilst demoing for an amazing company (Grant Studio) at a industry trade show (Craft and Hobby), I got sidetracked showing a beautiful soul how to make a "gum wrapper" bracelet out of a pile of scraps we had laying around. As it turned out, she spent her entire middle school years wearing braces on her teeth and was never allowed to chew gum... thus, she had never been exposed to the joys of folding the wrappers and MacGyvering them into many versions of wearable lovelies. To create a bracelet, we needed 66 links (the span of about 15 minutes) and something to talk about to pass the time. As we folded, others stopped by and sat down at the table, each having their own story about how, when, and where they themselves had learned to link the wrappers of gum that tended to lose it's flavor much too quickly. As our hands were busy, memories came flooding back and in the re-telling, the moment right then, that connection of strangers linked in a common project, made it's way into each of our creations. The ironic part to the whole story was the fact that this woman had been following me on the various social networks, she was someone I had never met but had "connected" with at some point... it wasn't until we made something together that we were truly linked.
