Monday & Thursday - Binding Signatures

Amidst the toil of hand binding our journals some students have questioned why we don't just buy a 99 cent spiral bound journal.

I think this article titled, The Courage to Screw Up: Why DIY Is Good for You, helps to explain the importance of making, here are the main takeaways, and reason for all of the effort:

1. A deeper connection to the things that keep us alive and well. We live in a world where we know very little about where essential object of our daily life come from, and how they operate. We don't know how our water get to the tap, or how our food gets to the grocery store. By making things we are afforded the opportunity to understand how things work.

2. An appreciation for the things you have and the systems that make it possible. When you make things for yourself you realize how much time, effort and skill it takes to make things well. It is hard to look at every other object in your world the same way afterwards.

3. An opportunity to use your hands and your brain. "We are a tool using animal" and we feel better when learning new skills in a hands on way.

4. A connection to other people. When working with groups to overcome complex tasks there are many opportunities to socialize and support one another as some students take more readily to one part of a task.

5. A path to freedom. The feeling that you can control some small part of your world, and not be wholly dependent on others, can be quite liberating.