Handmade - who cares?

In a world where convenience and mass production reign supreme, choosing to care about handmade items may seem like a sentimental indulgence. After all, handcrafted goods are often more expensive, and, contrary to popular belief, they’re not always superior in quality to machine-made alternatives. And yet, handmade is booming — just look at the success of platforms like Etsy, where millions of people seek out objects shaped not by automation, but by human hands.

So why should we care about handmade items?

As Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, “The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.” This isn’t just poetic sentiment — it points to something essential about what it means to be human. When someone crafts something by hand, they’re not just producing something pretty — it’s about doing meaningful work. It’s about doing something from beginning to end. For the person crafting the item, it brings a sense of dignity and pride.

But the significance of handmade goes beyond the individual creator. Each handcrafted object is also a thread in the fabric of cultural identity. Techniques passed down through generations — whether it’s weaving, embroidery, or jewelry making — carry with them stories, customs, and ways of seeing the world. By valuing handmade goods, we help preserve these traditions. We keep them alive not as museum pieces, but as living practices.

Handmade objects are rarely perfect — and that’s exactly the point. Their small flaws and irregularities are part of their charm. In a world dominated by smooth, cold, impersonal surfaces — think touchscreens and factory-made plastic — the textures of handmade things ground us. A hand-woven fabric, a hand-knotted bracelet, a carved wooden spoon: these are objects that remind us that a real person made them, and that we, too, are real people with senses and stories.

There is something deeply connective about this. When we hold a handmade item, we are, in a subtle way, holding hands with the person who shaped it. There’s intimacy in that gesture. It reminds us that we’re not isolated consumers, but part of a human community.

Handmade isn’t just a passing trend — it’s a return to something enduring and essential. As long as humans yearn to create, as long as we seek meaning in the things we surround ourselves with, handmade will remain relevant. In fact, it might be one of the few things that can help anchor us in a fast, mass-produced world.