Making: A Pathway to a Fuller life!

“Why make?” The question to some of us seems almost like saying “Why breathe?” We have always been creative, and for many of us we don’t know any other way. I believe the need to make is in the DNA of all of us. If you look back even just a hundred years, almost everyone was a maker of some kind. I’m convinced that making or creating is a primary need in everyone. You may not agree, and say “I’m not creative.” I have heard that statement so many times, yet I say it IS in you, and your full self needs to make. In the same way we need others, we need to make.

I have had the privilege of hearing the testimony of more people than I can count who have said that making “these little pots has changed my life.” 

One evening while dining with a friend, a retired pastor and counselor, he shared a story about taking a survey of his many of his clients who had experienced significant a breakthrough in therapy, and when asked, “What had the most impact on their mental health during that season of therapy?”, the unanimous response was that it was during the process of creating that they experienced the breakthrough. 

Could it be that the simplest things in life are truly the most important? Things like connection with others, a healthy lifestyle, walking outdoors, loving and being loved, and making? 

I have a challenge for you! If you are busy at your job, running kids from point A to point B, feeling tired or mildly depressed, wishing you were more fulfilled and content, then make something!

At The Village Potters Clay Center, we offer pottery classes that fills that creative place for so many here in Asheville. But there are so many outlets! Make a new recipe and have friends over, take a class and learn something new. Try pottery, fiber, painting, or cooking, just to name a few possibilities. Do it, and see if in time you might decide you need a small personal studio space in your home. Just make.

Sarah Wells Rolland

Founder and Ceramic Artist

The Village Potters Clay Center