#reverb16 // May // In Bloom

Sarah and I are continuing the #reverb challenge into 2016 with monthly prompts, you can join in anytime by signing up here. There is no obligation to write every month or even post what you write, signing up is just about receiving a prompt and using it as you wish. Use the #reverb16 hashtag when posting on social media so we can find you!

In Bloom | What do you buy vs. make yourself? We're talking food items and recipes, but also crafts, home decor, personal items, etc... do you have any specialties?

I love to be creative, and given the time, I would likely spend the time and energy to create things that are pleasing to my eye and delicious to my taste all the live long day. The motivation to spend the time and get my creative juices flowing also comes from a personal desire to maintain control in one form or another. Deciding to buy in any situation is giving control to the maker, that you accept everything as it is, and perhaps at times doing so with the recognition that you yourself could not do it better. There are many spaghetti sauces I feel this way about. :)

With food, for example, I love to buy ingredients or concoctions that are time consuming or difficult to do that don't require a lot of creativity or oversight. I don't get a lot of pleasure or satisfaction out of ricing my own cauliflower. When I get it pre-riced, it yields the same result as if I had done it myself. And it kind of takes a lot of time, and makes a mess. So, I will likely opt to buy, barring a ridiculous price tag.

However, with full fledged recipes, the taste and texture, along with my desire to control the ingredients and in certain quantities (nutrients and macros that support the nutritional goals of this household) motivate me to make it on my own. Especially now, with the advent of a gluten and casein restriction, many recipes need to be modified in some way. I also find an enormous amount of satisfaction having created a delicious and nutritious home cooked meal that my family enjoys. I would not classify myself as a person who loves to cook. I don't mind it at all. But I certainly love the result more than the process.

But, when I love the process more than the result, or at least as much as the result, a make vs. buy decision becomes much more of a no brainer. I think this is the appeal of the DIY revolution that is happening all across Pinterest, HGTV, TheKnot.com, those Tasty "fast-forwarded" recipe videos all over Facebook, etc... getting more and more people to fall in love with the process, their personal contributions to the result, and the overwhelming satisfaction that what they made is unique and their own.

It goes way way beyond the need to make something because of a financial barrier- which may exist certainly, but becomes less important as our desire to create becomes a thing. This DIY revolution is making many results possible for many people in some form. And it is creating communities of culture among us- new ways to share, to create with and for each other, and to exchange ideas, hacks, and spur on even more creativity.

And I absolutely love everything about that.

#reverb16