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Katie V.'s avatar

I always thought I wasn’t “good with my hands” because I struggled with drawing and making crafts as a child. When I was 25, I finally learned how to knit and realized it comes pretty easily to me now.

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Eleanor Johnstone's avatar

I have two sisters, and the one who directly followed me in birth order is in so many ways my opposite. I am skinny, she is full-bodied; I am often calm, she experiences the world in turbulence; I am artistic, and she has incredible scientific intelligence. As kids, I was viewed and treated as quiet, artistic, sensitive, clumsy, reliably good; she was treated as explosive, strong, ferocious, focused, impressive. When it came to getting things done around the house (and we were a family that did chores, like, REAL chores), my sister was my dad's pride for her strong shoulders - check out my kid carrying 10 lbs of topsoil! Whereas each time I tried a new sport, I earned a new, lame injury.

Over the years I've channeled my creativity and interest in sustainability to find ways to make do with what I have, or what I find. I have also channeled my feminism and identity as an often-single woman into being good at taking care of my physical surroundings. I have learned to fix dishwashers, put out fires, install all kinds of wall mounts and hangers, use a few power tools. I am working on my second desk now, and while I'm slow, I am proud to know the language, the pitfalls, and what to prepare. Being handy has become one of my favorite surprise identities.

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