Why make spoons?

I just found this very interesting "Spoon Manifesto" on  http://www.wholecommunities.org/alumni/spoons.shtml.  These are not the reasons that I make spoons and other things, but I really enjoy his thinking.  In fact, I am going to write my own spoon manifesto and share it with you within the next few days or so.  In the meantime, enjoy what Peter Forbes has to say about it:

The Spoon Manifesto
(Peter Forbes, July, 1999)

Many years ago, in downeast Maine, I met a man who quickly became a friend and teacher. I began regularly visiting Bill at his homestead at Dickinson’s Reach, a place that united my life as conservationist and photographer. Bill’s homestead and miles of coastline are almost the perfect blend of the wild and the civilized, the forest and the home. His life work of learning from this land changed forever my perception of what it means to live well, and for whom and what purpose we conserve land. Bill put a crooked knife into my hand and taught me how to carve a spoon, and I’ve never stopped. This gift of a spoon, along with an explanation for why I carve them, is my act of continuing to plant that seed.

• Renewal . I can create something useful and beautiful from nature. It is a dance we do together. Making a spoon harms nothing and may actually add to the beauty in the world.
• Joy. Carving is a joyful pleasure. It allows me to focus, frees my mind from abstraction, and strengthens my hands. The only person I can save is myself, and carving this spoon saves me.
• Reality. When I cut my finger, the blood is real.
• Equality. Anyone can carve spoons. A nine-year-old friend carved the best first-spoon I ever saw.
• Symbolism . This small wooden spoon and how it came from my hands is gentle encouragement to me of larger things I might be able to do.
• Completeness. In carving a spoon I saw the limb, split the wood, cut the block, watch the spoon emerge, mail it to you. The entire process is from within me and a tree.
• Friendship. I honor my friend Bill each time I make a spoon. I only need a few spoons, so I can also honor other people by giving them away.
• Democracy. There’s orneriness in carving a spoon. It’s my way of quietly but emphatically expressing my beliefs. A wooden spoon and plastic spoon say very different things.
• Human expression. Each spoon I carve ends up unique. I hope the same for my life and yours.
• Usefulness. Carving a spoon makes me be fully present. I listen better. I find that I need to say fewer things because my hands and mind are fruitfully at work. I can wait until my heart is pounding before I need to utter a word.
• Sabbath . I work and think much too much. Carving slows me down. Eating with a wooden spoon is a form of daily Sabbath, a gentle reminder for me to slow down.
• Humility. Yes, it does all these things for me but, in the end, it’s just a wooden spoon.