a shortage of stuff....

 I found it interesting to read in the New York Times that dumpster diving has become such a big deal. Companies like CVS and Walgreens have so much returned merchandise that gets thrown away each day, that folks go dumpster diving out back to get free stuff, or to illustrate the wastefulness of American consumer culture.

In the meantime, China's strict clampdown on Covid-19 and the protests against their authoritarian rule will likely cause supply chain issues, meaning we'll likely have less stuff. Perhaps in a world overwhelmed with stuff, it will be OK to have less of it.

This is the season for buying lots and lots of stuff. Some of it we buy thinking that it would be great for holiday giving, and then we give it hoping to impress folks who will likely remain unimpressed by receiving stuff for which they have little use.

How about making things instead? Don't be shy about it. When you make presents for people, and even when they're left scratching their heads in disbelief, you will have harvested the personal growth that comes from making beautiful and useful things. We've 27 making days between now and Christmas.

Just in case you are having difficulties knowing where to start or what to make, I've a number of books to recommend. Beginners might try Rustic Furniture Basics. Young parents or grandparents wanting to get their children growing in the real world beyond iPhones and the like might try Making Classic Toys that Teach. The Guide to Woodworking with Kids is an excellent guide for the young or young at heart. The latter two books suggest a path forward for our nation's schools. And of course my most recent book, The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, A Life  is a good way to explain the value of making for those who have never made anything before in their lives.

My friend Bill, told me the other day that he'd purchased a copy of the Wisdom of Our Hands for a friend of his in Little Rock who read it through cover to cover, hardly able to put it down. He then bought two copies to give his sons. As a lifelong craftsman he knew that my book would help explain a few things that needed explanation to a new generation.

You might of course, worry about making more stuff in a world overwhelmed with stuff. But the things a craftsman makes are more than just stuff. Otto Salomon had explained, that the value of the carpenter's work is in the object the carpenter makes, but the value of the student's work is in the student. When you give what you've learned to make you are giving evidence of your own growth to those who would care deeply about such things.

We have 27 days left.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.