Usually, I do not like following trends at all. I have stubbornly refused to get a Hydro Flask these past seven years just because it was trendy. Could I offer a reasonable explanation as to why? No, I could not. It is just a feeling I have. I did not think much about why I do not like wearing brand names or following trends until something new popped up this year.
I call this new trend “craftism.” It is about the messy and the handmade, the bright and the joyful. All of a sudden, there was a trend that I liked. It consumed me for a while. I found inspirational pictures of patchwork shirts, block-printed jeans, collaged cards, crayon doodles, handmade tote bags…etc. I was in love with the squiggly lines that come from a human hand holding a brush, and the spirit of freedom behind it. After all, craftism is about anything crafted by a human hand.
Everything is made one way or another. When something is made by a human rather than a factory, there is a different kind of value on the object. It means that someone took the time to create something and instill an emotion in it. “Time is money,” so they say, and someone spent their time on this. These things are created by a soul and a pulse and wiggling fingers, which is more than any machine can offer. Maybe something made by a machine has more expensive or intricate parts, but a crocheted blanket that you bought from the nice lady at the farmers’ market comes with a chat, a smile and genuine human connection, which is something our generation is desperately lacking.
Craftism calls us to remember what is childlike, messy and joyful, in opposition to refined and reserved trends like “old money.” We need craftism because it opposes perfectionism, which I am sure many of you feel the daily pressures of. Craftism says that anyone can create something silly and whimsical and throw off the idea of having to make something be the very best that it can be. This is one trend that calls us to celebrate our humanness and lean into the joy, the creativity and the messiness of it.
I believe that since we are created in God’s image, working with our hands honors a part of His call for our lives. Exodus 35 is a great example of people using the artistic skills God has given them to honor Him. How do we gain skill if not by practice? Craftism offers a way to glorify God with our creativity, to regulate emotion and to bring people together.
Dear reader, however much I may like this idea of craftism, it is still a trend; and eventually that switch flipped in my brain and I remembered that I do not like trends. Then came the work of figuring out why this wonderful trend was still raising a red flag in my mind. I realized that it is because no matter how good craftism is, it is still just like any other trend deep down. It is pressuring you to do a certain thing or to be part of a certain group. Craftism is telling you to be a creating machine. The spirit of craftism— freely playing and coloring— is better than the trend of craftism, which says to “create, create, create. “
I support the spirit of craftism, but when you see any trend, remember that you are a whole person and no trend should fill your whole life. Everyone has many skills and interests that need to be expressed. So yes, make some messy, joyful art, but also read a book, play a sport, get a houseplant and go on a late-night Hub run with friends.
