Yesterday I was moseying along on my way home from the gym, when lo and behold, I came across a wallet lying on the path in front of me.

My first thought was – “I’m glad I found this – rather than some unscrupulous person”. I then had a peek to see if there was an address inside… which there wasn’t. I have to say, I felt kinda creepy about it. A wallet is a very personal possession. The things you carry denote who you are, what organisations you are affiliated to… it feels like a massive violation of privacy to look in someone else’s wallet uninvited.

After I had established that there was no address or phone number, I walked the rest of the way home, then drove up to the nearest police station to hand it in.

It got me to thinking about random moments in life where you have somehow crossed paths with a helpful stranger (or been one!).

I remember one time when I was driving my parent’s old 4WD down to the Gold Coast – and the tyre blew out as I was doing 110km/hour down a 4-lane highway.

I managed to pull over – and though I know how to change a tyre, I was having trouble getting the car jacked up high enough.

A young man pulled over – and set about helping me to jack up the car, and change the big, heavy tyre. When we were done, I thanked him profusely, and asked if I could have his e-mail to thank him properly (of course, I happened to be single at the time.. and he was kinda cute!). He just waved that off good-naturedly and said it wasn’t necessary, then wished me a lovely day. I don’t even remember his name!

Has something like this ever happened to you?

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If I am, I’m not the only one.

You see, I have this wild and crazy notion that one day – in the not too distant future – I may actually be able to make a living from my creativity.

It’s my passion – the thing I think about endlessly from when I wake to when my eyes start to droop at the end of a long day. My jewellery, and this blog – and all the things I find and share with you all - it’s the thing that keeps me motivated – that keeps me alive!

I don’t mean alive in the physical, breathing/eating/heart beating way, I mean alive mentally – vitally!

Before I started creating, there was always a void. Something was missing, but I didn’t know what it was. I’d always had vague aspirations to write, but art and craft had never really occurred to me – it seemed like something only super-talented people (or grannies!!) did.

It’s funny – neither my mother or grandmother showed any crafty tendencies during my childhood. I had no role models around me. I focussed on academic achievement, and found fulfillment in achieving good marks at school, as well as devouring many, many novels. I was never a girly-girl – I wasn’t interested in fashion or makeup or any of those typically feminine interests.

But once I took up the knitting needles (which was where my crafty journey began), a whole new world opened up for me.

Craft was something I had to discover for myself. It has shown me a world of fellow creatrixes, women (and some men, too) who find fulfillment in making useful, beautiful, unique creations. And not only that, but also a world of small businesses, home-based entrepreneurs – people who share my dream of making a living from doing what they love!

There seems to be a slow shift in the Western world back towards valuing the work we do with our own hands. I can only hope that this trend continues, and we start to value an item that is handcrafted with skill and love above one that has a particular brand or logo stamped on the label.

This is my dream – and it is what I am committed to being a part of – and sharing with you all here. Thank you for joining me in my crazy dream! Knowing I’m not alone in my journey to make a living from doing what I love – that all of you are here with me – is what keeps me going.

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Why do we bother to create?

Amanda Mac on Flickr

What drives us? There are plenty of people out there who are content to fill their ’spare time’ with all sorts of non-creative pursuits (TV, reading, sport…).

I was, once upon a time, one of those people. I spent my time studying, reading, working. It was not until last year that I really begain to immerse myself in craft, art, and creativity in general.

I have always had a drive to write, but apart from a few short stories and 20,000 words of an unfinished novel sitting on my harddrive, that idea never really took off (wait, I guess I am a writer now, though!)

I have to say – those years were not completely happy for me. I always felt as though there was something missing in my life. I was never quite sure what it was, and so I drifted along, always unsatisfied.

My life blossomed when I began to create. I have always been an intellectual person, caught up in thoughts and study – so to come ‘back to Earth’ by working with my hands has been such a wonderful new discovery for me.

I get real pleasure from making and finishing an actual ‘thing’. I feel that creating things with our own hands is one of those little pleasures that we, in first world countries, anyways, have lost from our culture.

We don’t make our clothes, we buy them. We don’t fix things, we replace them… it has become endemic in our society to just pay others to do the things we once would have done for ourselves.

I also get a little thrill when someone likes something I have created enough to buy it from me – and I get to know that something I have made is out there in the world, persisting and bringing people pleasure.

I think that, now that I have found this new way of being, it will become more and more a part of my life.

Now I just need to learn how to sew… but if my previous attempts are anything to go by, that is not such a wise idea!

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I would love you to share your own stories and thoughts on this – why do YOU create?

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