Bought vs. Homemade || {Personal}
While there is heart and caring involved in making your own items, whether they be for crafts, presents, religious rituals, or pretty much anything, most people don't really like receiving them, unless they're homemade by someone who knows what they're doing and can make a nicer version than the rest of us. Many of us like making these items, however most of us that do, don't really know how to make a nice quality version, so our items usually end up breaking after so long. Most of us don't really like receiving these items even if we make them for others, and even more of us don't really like making them for ourselves. Some of us even feel cheap when we give these items out for presents.
This brings to mind a question that I've been pondering. If we don't like making them for ourselves, receiving them, or giving them as presents, why on earth do we continue making them? Bought versions are much better quality, plus they are received much better than homemade. Everyone (that I know anyways) likes getting items bought specifically for them, and the only people I see who actually cherish receiving homemade items are the parents of smaller children. So why do we, we being adults and teenagers, continue to make things and think others actually want them?
Have you ever saw something you really liked at a fair, festival, shop, or pretty much anywhere, and thought to yourself, "Hey, I can make that!", then went home to try to make a similar version? Well, those of us who don't actually make these things on a day-to-day basis seem to wind up disappointed with the end result. It's not as pretty, big, nice, fast, whatever, as the one we saw originally, but we put effort in to it, so we keep it/use it for its intended purpose anyway. Why do we do this if we aren't satisfied? Do we just not want to throw it away? Most of us, unless we did an outstanding job or it was our first attempt at anything like that, certainly aren't proud of it.
In the back of my mind, any time I try to make something, I always think something like, "It would be so much better/prettier/faster/stronger if I would have just bought it...", and I wind up aggravated with myself for not doing as good of a job as I thought I would. Does anyone else feel like this? Whenever I try to make something for someone, I usually feel like apologizing because it's not better than the bought version, and they politely accept it, and I think I know they don't really want it in the first place. So why do I continue this cycle of self torture? I assume it has something to do with lack of money. But then I think, would it be better to just not get them anything at all?
So I ask whomever reads this... Which would you prefer. Receiving a not-so-good, homemade version of something that you could just buy, or receiving absolutely nothing. For arguments sake, lets say it's your birthday. (And for you slightly older people out there who keep trying to make people my age believe that you really do enjoy that mis-shaped, horrid colored, homemade ashtray you got from a family friend or even your own children, please don't tell me, "It's the thought that counts!"... That goes for you too Mr. B.)
This brings to mind a question that I've been pondering. If we don't like making them for ourselves, receiving them, or giving them as presents, why on earth do we continue making them? Bought versions are much better quality, plus they are received much better than homemade. Everyone (that I know anyways) likes getting items bought specifically for them, and the only people I see who actually cherish receiving homemade items are the parents of smaller children. So why do we, we being adults and teenagers, continue to make things and think others actually want them?
Have you ever saw something you really liked at a fair, festival, shop, or pretty much anywhere, and thought to yourself, "Hey, I can make that!", then went home to try to make a similar version? Well, those of us who don't actually make these things on a day-to-day basis seem to wind up disappointed with the end result. It's not as pretty, big, nice, fast, whatever, as the one we saw originally, but we put effort in to it, so we keep it/use it for its intended purpose anyway. Why do we do this if we aren't satisfied? Do we just not want to throw it away? Most of us, unless we did an outstanding job or it was our first attempt at anything like that, certainly aren't proud of it.
In the back of my mind, any time I try to make something, I always think something like, "It would be so much better/prettier/faster/stronger if I would have just bought it...", and I wind up aggravated with myself for not doing as good of a job as I thought I would. Does anyone else feel like this? Whenever I try to make something for someone, I usually feel like apologizing because it's not better than the bought version, and they politely accept it, and I think I know they don't really want it in the first place. So why do I continue this cycle of self torture? I assume it has something to do with lack of money. But then I think, would it be better to just not get them anything at all?
So I ask whomever reads this... Which would you prefer. Receiving a not-so-good, homemade version of something that you could just buy, or receiving absolutely nothing. For arguments sake, lets say it's your birthday. (And for you slightly older people out there who keep trying to make people my age believe that you really do enjoy that mis-shaped, horrid colored, homemade ashtray you got from a family friend or even your own children, please don't tell me, "It's the thought that counts!"... That goes for you too Mr. B.)