Friday bonus: Homemade things
If I can, I will build it, cook it, grow it, or mend it. Why do these things matter? There are a lot of answers to that question, but the main ones have to do with feeling a sense of agency in a world that encourages dependence.
On Easter weekend this year, I made some very non-traditional limoncello, because I wanted to put it in a trifle and creating a makeshift slow-cooker setup was more convenient than going to the liquor store. There were three options in the limoncello scenario: go to the liquor store (mildly inconvenient, but certainly not impossible), find a substitution for the limoncello (or go without alcohol in the trifle), or make my own. I chose to make my own, which was convoluted, satisfying, and of course required me to already have certain base ingredients available. The fallback of making things myself is a habit I hold dear to my heart, and something I’ve been reflecting on recently.
I take for granted the ability to do an arbitrary list of things for myself. I believe in my own ability to do electrical work up to installing a wired light fixture, but not beyond. I will mend clothes, and even sew from scratch if I have enough of a run-up. I will plumb, provided it’s simple and I’m not taking sole responsibility for any potential failures. Relevant to the limoncello, I will cook most anything (provided it’s vegan and doesn’t require equipment I don’t own), brew, ferment, or otherwise bring food from one state to another. And don’t get me started on propagating plants from seed. There is almost always some variety of microgreen growing in my kitchen, and February is a month of great self-restraint in the face of seed catalogues.
Why do these things matter? There are a lot of answers to that question, but the main ones have to do with feeling a sense of agency in a world that encourages dependence. It’s probably still false consciousness on my part, but being able to do things for myself, make things I would otherwise need to buy, gives me not only a feeling of accomplishment, but the sneaking idea that I’m somehow subverting the system. When the water kefir costs sugar and time, or the trousers get a second life, I feel like I’m not only doing something enjoyable, but also cheating capitalism. ‘
To an extent, I get the desire to do it myself through the cultures I’ve joined, whether those be crunchy vegans or Free/Libre and Open Source Software enthusiasts. Many years ago, I learned that cooking from scratch for the people we care about can be seen as an act of resistance. It helps, of course, if that’s a non-gender bounded and collective effort. But my own private satisfaction in mending, building, growing, and cooking comes from the sheer pleasure and power of being able to decide that I don’t need to go to the store to get that limoncello.
