Play Makes Us Human

encouragement imagination play Sep 21, 2021

It isn't that no other creatures in the world play for the sake of playing. But it is our imagination fuelling play that truly sets us apart. 

The great writer Ursula K. Le Guin called the imagination "an essential tool of the mind." She reminds us that it is not only a way of becoming human, but also remaining human. 

As human beings we have a great opportunity and privilege to exercise our imagination. As quilters who are also human beings we are also incredibly lucky to have our art be an outlet for our imagination, for our skills to be tools to let the imagination run loose. Yet so many of us get hung up on perfection and obligation instead of play.

The other mistake we make is not recognizing that any act of sewing is an act of imagination. That includes when we follow a pattern or make something from a single fabric line. Our imagination is engaged whenever the fabric is out so we best foster it, nurture it, explore it. It's going to make us better humans.