I'm not sure if it's useful to generalize by saying, "we've become a society of..."

From my own experience, I was taught to sew as a child in 4-H. I only liked part of the process, but I've used it occasionally as a teenager and an adult. I learned to crochet as quite a young child, and was fascinated with it, then, though I haven't done much of it as an adult. I attempted to learn to knit almost as young, and utterly failed at that time, but I succeeded in teaching myself to knit, out of a book, as an adult, and I still occasionally knit things.

I liked the dancing that I learned to do in school, so I sought out ways to keep dancing and learn other ways to do it, or to do other movement forms like Tai Chi and Ba Gua, as an adult.

And I liked making art, in school, so I've made art, off and on, as a student/amateur, throughout my life. I liked singing in school and in the church of my childhood, so I've also sought out some opportunities to sing in other contexts.

So, I think I discovered, pretty early, that there were things that I enjoyed doing, and whether some people made money at them or not was almost irrelevant to me—the exception to that for me was theater, which I very much enjoyed doing in high school, but which I didn't pursue afterwards, because it involved huge time and energy commitments, even back then, and I felt like I could have a better balance, in my time in college, and a better balance and a better chance of making a good living, in my adult life, by using my time and energy to pursue other joys and learn and practice more easily salable and financially rewarding skills.

It probably helped me, when I was a child, that my one living grandmother was a dedicated crafter, and that my mother did some sewing, and that both my mother and my father did some amateur painting. And they supported me in learning these things, too, via 4-H and one childhood art class.

I also had piano lessons for a time, in childhood, and played musical instruments, in school, for a couple of years. I dropped my formal studies of making instrumental music fairly quickly, though, because I didn't enjoy practicing. However, I played the family piano for my own enjoyment (mostly by ear), and I've bought and played with a variety of small and large musical instruments during parts my adult life. It probably also helped me, here, that neither of my parents insisted that I keep studying a musical instrument when I wasn't enjoying the practice.

Throughout my life, I've found other people learning and practicing and enjoying similar things, so I've never really had the feeling that we were a society of spectators—I almost always knew other makers, students, and/or participants!

But if I think about what childhood learning was like for my younger brother, I don't think he came out of childhood with as much love of learning things or making things as I had. He had a harder time in school, both academically and with being bullied. And sexism about making some kinds of things was more common, then, than I think it is now. Physical accomplishments were more socially accepted, and he learned to ride both skateboards and unicycles, which I never got good at.

So, that's two children living in the same household, but experiencing different social expectations. For children whose parents didn't or couldn't support them in learning things outside of school, it was probably a lot harder to develop love of learning to make things. And my impression is that opportunities to enjoy things like art and dancing within school may be less commonly available, now, then they were then.

I feel fortunate that I got so many chances to learn enjoyable things, and I wish everyone were as fortunate.

One positive note about changing times—I think it is much more common and accepted for boys and young men to study and practice dancing, now, than it was when I was growing up, though I'm not sure if that general acceptance extends beyond break-dance types of dancing.

The existence of the Web has brought new opportunities for both learning and performing. I don't know if that's changed the proportion of makers vs. spectators or not—it would be an interesting question for someone to study.

And, on a final note, the COVID-19 pandemic (and particularly the frighteningly unknown dangers of possibly catching long covid) have had a seriously chilling effect for me on in-person, social kinds of making—I no longer feel it's wise for me to go to an in-person crafting circle or dance event, or to cook with my friend Debbie. I no longer consider seeking out people to sing with. I would be seriously wary of even taking an in-person art class, even though I could do that masked, and maybe with prudent social distancing. I hate feeling like I need to forego so many kinds of joys for the sake of my health and to maximize my chances of keeping my independence for (hopefully) another decade or two. But I see so many people blithely shopping unmasked that I guess this is only a concern for a small proportion of the population.

My friend would almost certainly be willing to mask, but her kitchen is the one that is of a good size for shared cooking, and she has had covid three times, so far—she shares unmasked indoor space with several other people. I don't feel confident that I wouldn't be exposed, there, even masked.

Fortunately, we live in Zoom times, and we're able to maintain our friendship online and in print, along with very occasional outdoor meetings. I would be in much worse shape, emotionally, without the ability to connect with people online.

Thanks for making this post! Besides finding it interesting to write about, I'm enjoying the very different takes in the comment threads. 🙂