Happy are the hands that cultivate and create

Mile Marker 4: "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." John Ruskin

Dec 05, 2024

Jill Charuk: The Wild Bunch

The promise of MM4: Beauty inspired becomes beauty expressed. Once we see beauty, we will be compelled to replicate it in our own unique ways in service to our Creator, our communities, and ourselves—and having fun along the way!

“The creative adult is the child who survived.” — Ursula Le Guin.

When I was a teenager, I experienced a remarkable period of delight. While some people have horrible memories of high school, I felt newly alive, thanks to my mother, who had just divorced my alcoholic father and provided the family with new stable, normal life. I was like a bird set free from a cage. Liberated from this not-so-gilded cage, I eagerly explored a myriad of creative endeavors: I started painting, acted in plays, wrote bad stories (very bad), made my own clothes, crafted costumes for the plays I was involved in, and even tried entrepreneurship—selling painted stone paperweights for $.35 each.

Then, alas, I became an adult.

College. First job. Long commutes, Marriage. Kids. Financial stress. You get my drift. My story is replicated in one form or another millions of times over in the life stories of everyday people striving for success or even just survival.

Goodbye, paints. Good-bye plays. Goodbye, bad stories. Goodbye, handmade clothes. Goodbye, fledgling businesses.

But as anyone who has found satisfaction from making things can tell you, the benefits are great.

You build self-confidence
You build self-esteem
You become a better problem solver
You become adept at non-linear thinking
You become less stressed, more relaxed, more mindful
You become more self-reliant
You find release in self-expression
You enter a flow state
You have the satisfaction of knowing that you produced something useful, beautiful, inspirational, or all three combined.

But most of all, making stuff is just plain fun.

Unfortunately, for many today, creating for the fun of it has been deprioritized to the seemingly everlasting demands of a more prosaic way of life: working long hours to pay bills and buy stuff. Trading life energy for the things you could make yourself, sacrificing the satisfaction and flow state that goes with it. And so, those early playful impulses get buried in some deep chamber of the soul. Often for a long time. Decades sometimes… until retirement.

But then again, maybe not. Maybe you feel a calling….

Exit 9 Mile Marker 4. 2012: I take a Permaculture class.

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.” — Neil Gaiman

My creative pull began in 2010, at age 58, when I received a catalog from a New York City learning center. As I browsed through the enticing offerings, I came across a full-page description of a permaculture design class. I had no idea what permaculture was, but I was intrigued. Although I no longer have the exact wording that captivated me, my teacher, Andrew Faust, now shares this definition of permaculture on his website:

Permaculture is a design process and a worldwide movement that is helping to regenerate local ecologies and economies by addressing our social justice and environmental issues.

I loved the idea that it is a design process…that each individual can find their own ways to design aspects of their lives and surroundings to conform more closely to the universal laws of Nature.

Living my suburban life the way I was, I hadn’t had much time to think about ecology, or my role in the ecosystem, but that course sounded like something I needed to hear. Unfortunately, the 11-week certification process to get a PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate) was too expensive and time-intensive for me at that point. I let that little seed drop and went on with my life.

The same ad reappeared in 2011. Again, that wistful longing to go, but it was not to be. But in 2012, I couldn’t ignore the call and embarked on the 11-week trip to Manhattan for my coursework.

Andrew Faust is a compelling speaker—a passionate permaculture evangelist who draws together all the threads in the web of “ologies”—ecology, biology, cosmology, geology, meteorology, anthropology, sociology, philosophy—deftly weaving them together to present his students with the know-how to build a way of life consistent with Nature’s patterns. For me, the course was a way to separate myself from the nature-alienating, manufactured foundation of my modern life and pivot to a lifestyle that made much more sense, ecologically speaking.

This was my creative turning point as an adult. After the program ended, I had my final project in hand—a permaculture design plan for my suburban quarter acre. My husband and I went about executing it: a rain barrel, raised beds; and a wildlife retreat with a pond.

As we gave more and more of our yard to Nature, Nature gave back to us in the form of purpose, peace, and enjoyment.

All of this new activity diverted me from the fast lane. I was leaning into a different, healthier, more intentional way of life guided by the Permaculture Ethics: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share.

*****

In the last chapter, We Value What We Create, I discussed how what we do changes how we think. The decision I made at 58 to follow my creative instincts changed me.

I learned that one change precipitates another. As a result of that one decision to take that class, I have since taken a Master Gardener class and joined the local volunteers. Then I took up botanical watercolor painting in order to force me to slow down and really look at the flowers I was cultivating.

One fun thing led to the other and that is part of the Exit 9 MM4 promise.

*****

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Jill Charuk, artist and owner of The Red Queen Studio, is a lifelong creative—" I think I was decorating my room when I was 12!” Her journey started in her teens when she repurposed fabric swatches into bright blends of pattern and color to make her own clothes. Those early experiments propelled her to become a fashion designer after college.

“After closing my [design] business I kept trying creative venues like toile painting and decorating, and eventually I settled on painting. I applied all I had learned about color, fabric, and design in my art.”

As driven as she has been by her love for art and beauty, she also credits the need to be resourceful in her young years as a contributing factor to her prodigious creative output. Sometimes, getting something she wanted was a matter of “if you want it, make it.”

But today, things are different. People like fast food, fashion, and furniture, and they can buy it. Jill observes, “People are told they can buy all the beautiful clothes, furniture, and artwork, with no work on their part. But is it satisfying? I say no.”

So, the constant exposure to beautiful things and manufactured perfection makes people feel inadequate and intimidated when they go to Jill’s art classes to learn how to paint. “They think, ‘How could I create something as nice as this?’”

Sometimes, impatience is another limiting attitude. Jill says, “Often it is misunderstood how much time goes into learning how to paint or sew. Failures happen. It’s easier to buy. But the rewards of making something yourself far outweigh the quick purchase.”

Jill’s message is to wake up to the isolation that permeates society today. So many people are dissatisfied with their lives, bored, and lonely.

That isolation is real. One-third of adults feel lonely every week. Life satisfaction has plummeted. We look outside ourselves to cure that isolation. Screen time takes up literally hours of our day: for the average Gen Xer, it takes up 6 hours a day, and that climbs to 7 hours for Gen Z. It is no wonder that job satisfaction is also dropping. Those complaining about the lack of meaning at work may fail to recognize that the free time spent in passive activity is equally meaningless—the kind of activity author Catherine Price calls “Fake Fun.” The more time engaged in Fake Fun, the less time is available for True Fun—which she defines in her book, The Power of Fun, as a confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow.

“The fact that playfulness, connection, and flow are all active states also means that anything that could be described as passive consumption cannot, by definition, generate True Fun on its own.” —Catherine Price

“But,” Jill reminds us, “That doesn’t have to be. Creating is a way out of the isolation.[My generation] often made things on our own because we simply didn’t have enough money. But how much fun was it to sit with those pattern books! Some people just don’t know how satisfactory making things can be!”

******

If you feel hard-pressed to find the time to indulge in your creative talents; if you never think to finish that half-knitted sweater; if you feel too vulnerable to expose your art or writing to others; if you don’t have time to use your woodworking skills to build that nightstand you need, maybe you need to hear this:

We need you to do those things.

I’ve recently taken special note of the vast, worldwide garden of amazingly creative people there are. In every realm of life—the fine arts, social service, organizational leadership, designing, writing, building, crafting, performing, growing, teaching—they all humble and inspire me. If you do any of those things, you inspire me. Every act of beauty negates an act of ugly somewhere, somehow.

For this reason, to conclude, I circle back to MM3: You Will See Beauty. Some, like John-Mark L. Miravalle, believe that appreciating beauty is just a stepping stone: creating beauty is a moral obligation.

Medium writer Wil Cunningham said:

“Is beauty a moral obligation? The short answer is this: The world would, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be a much better place if those who could add a moment of beauty would do so. And, if the world would undoubtedly be better, we must make it so. We are obligated to make it so.”

I’m a better person because of those who have used their happy, dirty hands to fulfill their moral obligation to cultivate and create beauty in all its glorious forms. You all give me hope that I can fulfill mine.

Featured MM4 Book: The Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity by William S. Coperthwaite

(Note: Future Mile Marker posts and rewrites of previously written drafts will feature the book most instrumental in moving me down the Exit 9 path.)

“The main thrust of my work is not simple living, not yurt design, not social change, although each of these is important and receives large blocks of my time. But they are not central. My central concern is encouragement—encouraging people to seek, to experiment, to plan, to create, and to dream. If enough people do this, we will find a better way.”—William S. Coperthwaite

This book exemplifies many Exit 9 values: authentic living, sound design and craftsmanship, simple living, community, meaningful work, true wealth, and unschooled education.

I received this book from my son in 2012. When I got rid of two-thirds of my belongings, including books, in 2019, this book was one of the first to make the cut. It is my inspiration and guide.

It is my reminder that I aspire to a life of voluntary simplicity even when I fail every day to achieve it.

It is a reminder that everyday objects can be astoundingly beautiful. A handmade straw broom can be a work of art; a plastic broom is an eyesore. A handmade tool can be worthy of display; a Home Depot hammer is best hidden away in a toolbox.

It is a reminder that forging our own path is both a protest against the way things are and a living testament to how things can be.

Bill Coperthwaite’s close friends and allies included the homesteaders Helen and Scott Nearing and the social philosopher Richard Gregg. He lived much of his life in a self-built yurt in the remote wilderness of Maine, growing his own food and practicing traditional crafts like woodworking. His work on yurts and his attention to sustainable building practices became a significant part of his educational philosophy,

He passed away in 2013, but his legacy lives on through the many people he influenced and the practical, sustainable ideas he helped to popularize. To learn more about him, read his biography, A Man Apart: Bill Coperthwaite’s Radical Experiment in Living, by his longtime friend, Peter Forbes.

Other recommendations and resources:

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (a truly super book)

The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price

Earth is Our Home: Bioregional Permaculture, A New Model for Economic Prosperity by Andrew Faust

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

The Courage to Create by Rollo May

The Wild Bunch was reprinted with permission from the artist.

Coming up: Exit 9 Mile Marker 5: Grounding: Finding and exploring the meaning of feelings of belonging, your sense of place, and community.

To my subscribers and followers: This is Exit 9 v.0. There will be v.1 and v.2 versions (at least). It is a work in progress. I welcome any feedback on what resonated and what didn’t as I continue to edit and improve Exit 9 and prepare it for eventual book publication.

Exit 9