Am I Still a Maker

What is a "maker" exactly? Is a janitor a maker? What about facilities-maintenance staff? I took time off from my personal projects to do some repair and maintenance on several buildings this week. I was using the same tools and techniques, but somehow it didn't feel like I was "making."

None of the people I worked with this week consider themselves "makers" even though they are all more skilled than I am in many areas. For the entire week I was more like an assistant or apprentice to them. They do this type of work full time and have a deep knowledge of many things. I'm a dilettante who thankfully knows enough to call in experts when safety or financial efficiency are at stake.

I did some good, solid real-world work this week. When I knew what I needed to do and had a plan for the task, I thought of myself as "merely working." When I had no plans, when I was just exploring and dreaming - then I thought of myself as a maker.

In fact, it wasn't until I made a cartoon face out of an old light fixture that I thought of myself as a maker. "At least I made one thing this week," I thought to myself.

What the... what does that mean? Why is my mindset like that? And am I the only one who thinks like this?

Why do I consider this silly cartoon face from scrap parts to be "making."

And why do I not consider replacing these old light fixtures with new LED versions a form of making?

I get to hang out with carpenters, contractors, welders, mechanics, cabinet makers and chefs. I also hang around with painters and photographers and jewelry artists. None of them have really adopted the term "maker" to identify themselves.

I also know people who identify as tinkerers, shade tree mechanics, DIYers, hobbyists or amateurs in various fields. I even know people who still use the terms "home brewed" and jack-of-all-trades. These people consider making and repairing and creating a basic life skill that everyone should have, not something particularly special. They have not adopted the maker moniker either.

In fact, these folks seem to have a distaste for the new marketing term of "maker." They see the hoopla and overuse of the term in advertising and grant proposals and seem determined to avoid the term.

So I wonder if "maker" is becoming a name for people who haven't fully integrated creativity and physical work in their lives.

I don't have any answers, just a lot more questions. Why do I never post my artistic work here? Why do I not post about repair and maintenance? Why do I avoid posting real programming, mechanical and engineering challenges? Do I really think makers are so easily frightened that I'll scare them off by posting professional level tasks?

Until now, my biggest worry was that I bounce around between so many materials, techniques and project types that it will take a year before I post a similar project. What if people show up because of my electronics projects and are disappointed to find arabesque shadow screens instead, or wood carving, or halter tops, or graphic design tips? That is, after all, why I chose such a weird name for the blog, "You've been warned, you knew what to expect from the title."

Maybe I need to stop limiting the types of things I post here and start sharing the full range of project types and levels of difficulty.

Okay, that's enough overthinking and public rumination for one post. Time to go do something, make something, create something... doesn't really matter what I call it now does it... as long as I do it.

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