I’m not much of a handyman. In fact, I dedicated a whole episode of my podcast “Remote Pep Talks, with Ryan Millar, to the subject of craftsmanship and the value of creativity in manifesting real things in the world. This resonates with me precisely because I’m so very unhandy. But working with my hands is something I want to improve at.

So I’m doing it! I’ve signed up for an actual DIY course (in Dutch, because why not work on two of my weaknesses at once?) in September. And I’m also planning to join a traditional woodworking course in June too, because… why not?

This whole idea has been spurred by the fact we’re doing renovations, and so there’s a lot of craftspeople in my house, doing work and bending materials to their will.

Here’s what I’ve done in the past week:

  • Worked with Chiara on transforming Neve’s crib into a kid’s bed. Cutting, sanding, painting and affixing a board to the fourth side of her crib, so that she can get in and out independently. It’s not great, but so far it’s functional.
  • I also repaired a wooden deck chair that had a broken slat. Also not great (and quite ugly), but functional.

I get that these are baby steps. But there’s no point in our life where we’re too old to take baby steps.