Creative Angst: Too Much Cool Stuff

Summer in Paris Macaron Necklace

While working on a bunch of mini burgers yesterday, I was listening to old episodes of the radical politics/craft podcast, Craft Cartel (new episodes might be in the works, according to one of the the show creators–yay!). One of the episodes contained a review of the now-defunct magazine World Sweet World, which looked like crafty-sustainable-design heaven, and I was heartbroken to discover that back issues are virtually impossible to come by, with the exception of a couple issues that would have cost me $35 in shipping alone from Australia. Yeah, right. (As a consolation, check out archives of cool craft/DIY tutorials on their website.)

French Picnic Necklace

Anywho, in my search for back issues, I came across the online shop of a nifty Aussie store called Lark, which then led me to a series of books by a Japanese publisher called Paumes. Seriously, check out this link. If you like design, decorating, yummy food, or travel, you’ll totally freak (in a good way). In a roundabout fashion, I was then led to the site of Frankie Magazine, which has put out a couple of books featuring sweets and afternoon treats that are total eye candy. By the end of my Internets adventures, I was actually feeling a bit overwhelmed, and this is something that seems to happen frequently whenever I’m exposed to lots of images, products, or ideas.

A Burger Bonanza

Often, when I find cool books, magazines, or websites, the urge is to buy whatever it is they’re offering. (Good thing I’m also broke, so that never really leads to anything.) The problem is that this is a trend that never ends. I’ll never reach the absolute, last “cool thing,” and I could conceivably consume myself into infinity (with a big enough wallet, that is), but where does that really get me? I can’t possess these cool ideas in any meaningful way, even though that urge is what’s driving my desire to buy, buy, buy. However, what I can do is find inspiration and weave that into my own art in a way that’s unique to my experience, which, I could argue, is much cooler than buying another book or other random object that I likely won’t even remember six months from now.

Custom Order: Festive Cranberry Sauce

When I’m feeling barraged by an onslaught of stuff (a common occurrence in our culture, unfortunately), I have to remind myself that desire in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it also is something that can’t be “cured” by obtaining the object (or person or experience) in question, because there will always be another object of my desire waiting in line. If this is something you’re interested in exploring, you might want to check out an awesome book called Open to Desire by Mark Epstein, which talks about the gap that exists between our feelings of desire and the thing or person stirring up that desire. He offers guidance in how to settle into, and even enjoy, that gap, instead of constantly seeking to quench those feelings of desire, which, as we know, is a never-ending cycle.

In a total about-face, tune in tomorrow when I talk about my Aztec Imports order that just arrived, including my new mini kitchen.