Guido Maria Kretschmer on DIY love
“Homemade doesn’t always look better, but it’s unique”
© Philipp Rathmer
Buying was yesterday. We prefer to let off steam personally and creatively and do handicrafts, crochets, simmer, knit whatever we can. In such a way that everyone is ecstatic “Aaahh” and not frightened by “Ouch!” call.
For me, do-it-yourself is synonymous with creativity and the longing to design. At least most. Because sometimes it is just born out of necessity, because there is no one else to take on a task for you. So I sweep the driveway on a Saturday morning and try to convince myself that there couldn’t be anything nicer for me at the moment. Do-it-yourself isn’t always creative. And sometimes it is even a necessity that enables a functioning togetherness.
My grandmother used to quietly and secretly set up a beverage shop in our basement. When I was sewing on my design career with needle and thread, lost in thought, I was often torn from my work by the miserable “ding-dong” of our doorbell. It went like this: “Hello, I would like two malt beers and four bottles of Fachinger.” Then I always thought: Why does one of my siblings never have to go to the door? “Because you are the nicest to customers,” said my enterprising grandma. That’s when I learned: the customer is and remains king. And: interruptions are part of life.
But back to the topic. Self-made things are preceded by the reputation of being lovable. However, when I look at the gifts I have given myself in my long life, there are considerable differences in my ability to be creative. Made with love does not automatically mean perfected with talent.
I have a dear friend who provides the entire circle of friends with jam that is so firm that you can’t even get it out of the jar. But she just enjoys it. And the jars are so lovingly labeled and pasted that they could at least get first place for the outside in every jam exhibition.
Homemade food doesn’t always taste better and it doesn’t always look better, but it has one, ultimate advantage that it is as unique as the desire to make something of your life and your talents! Because there are plenty of people who create nothing with their hands and in the worst case can only play around with themselves or with others. Now it is out!
How poor would our lives all look if talented little fingers weren’t used every day? The golden hands of my tailors are a gift, and anyone who forms rolls at half past two in the morning can only be praised. Fingers that make the strings of instruments vibrate are just as much to be revered as the desire to do something meaningful with one’s life one day. Every great career starts with a hobby, the joy of expressing yourself and the pleasure of being particularly good at something. Even if someone rings the bell at the wrong moment. “Yes, grandma, I’m going!”
This article originally appeared in Guido No. 11/2021.