Flaming Stars & Burned In Memories

This evening I went out and looked up at the stars. The smattering of constellations littered across the blue-black backdrop made me think about how generations of people looked to the stars to somehow see themselves more clearly. The fire burning light years away guided the navigators and explorers, heard the grandfathers pass on stories of their grandfathers while lover's made confessions and bare-footed children chased fireflies. We would have no idea that Orion had a belt or the Little Dipper poured out into a larger one had not someone pointed them out to us methinks. As a child, sitting around a campfire, my Uncle Mark guided my eyes upward as he explained how the pointer stars led to Polaris, my North Star and guiding light. He was a carpenter by trade, a master woodworker who was perpetually curious and passionate about transferring his skills to my brothers and I... those memories are forever burned into my memory and branded on my heart. Although he has been gone for many years now, his legacy shines on in my children and those they inspire.

This past Summer at the Detroit Maker Faire, we as a family invited a number of kids from a local FIRST robotic team and Kettering University in Flint Michigan to come and teach leather working with us at The Henry Ford. It was a surreal experience for everyone involved. The idea that one learns twice by teaching, that they gain a deeper understanding when they serve others by transferring their skills, is a life changing event... Later that evening around the campfire in the backyard, our invited guests talked about what Maker Faire meant to them and how, despite being dog-tired and completely spent, that they could never just "attend" a Maker Faire as a consumer ever again, that they felt compelled to continue to give back and transfer their skills. Those kids felt what our family has felt for so many years... they felt like the luckiest people on the planet to have spent the weekend surrounded by and rubbing elbows with the most bold thinking, wildly innovative and vibrant makers in the world. Under the stars, those kids found their North Star, a way to use the skills they had learned to Pay It Forward to others. Needless to say, those same kids were at our front door at 5 in the morning when Maker Faire came to our local Barnes and Noble stores later that Fall... each and every one of them eager to teach strangers the skill they had acquired that Summer with our family in stores across Michigan. It got me thinking.

In early January, we invited those same kids over to take part in our family's yearly Maker Faire Project deciding day. In following with our core mission of teaching a skill to share, we narrowed it down to either woodworking or glasswork. Our children, (Ben 16), Noah (15) and Abi (13) have never lived in a world without being surrounded by makers and craftsman or Maker Faire. Abi was 5 years old when she taught at her first Maker Faire. As the kids have gotten older, their passion for spreading the Maker Mindset and Hacking Education have only deepened. I suppose that is why I was not surprised when they asked if we could rent an RV and take their band of newly minted Makers of Merit across country with them to San Mateo to teach. Our eldest kidlet Ben said it best... "Some people want to burn the world down and some of us are just happy being the campfire that is warm enough to hear just one more story." I looked across the table at my children and their friends. Like every old oak, our lives are told in rings, 365 day rotations collected and cross-sectioned for some future generation to ponder. The greatest gift an old oak could ask for is to be made into something useful, something that inspires others to be a better version of themselves somehow I suppose... My husband and I looked at these young saplings (in keeping with the metaphor) and could not be more proud. 

We look forward to teaching the ancient artform of woodburning... and although we hope that no campfires are started at the table, we do anticipate some incredible stories and burned in memories destined to inspire the next generation of young makers.

Maker Faire Detroit

Ever since I was a child, The Henry Ford Museum inspired me to think bigger. One can hardly escape the pull of innovation whilst walking through the various exhibits and displays highlighting human ingenuity, invention, and initiative housed throughout the museum and grounds. As a kid, the machines spoke of people who were larger than life, people who chose to use their talents to build a nation and usher in an industrial age. As an adult, I walk through the museum with a sacred appreciation for the monumental sacrifices and determination the generations before me embodied to create such wonderful things. The Henry Ford is a living and breathing testament to what is possible.

A few years back I had the distinct privelege to have dinner with Dale Dougherty, chief imagineer of Maker Faire, while he was visiting Michigan. I loved listening to him talk about the Makers and Tinkerers he had encountered along in his travels, his eyes lit up as he conveyed stories about the random things people were inspired to pursue and build. I thought to myself that he, and those he so animately spoke about, were the kind of people I wanted my children to have the chance to meet. Dale's passion for making is contagious and from the moment he set foot here in Michigan, I prayed that his spark would catch. I had been a part of many Maker Faires prior but, I could think of no better place to host a Maker Faire than The Henry Ford... it was almost as if Henry Ford knew that there would be a time when people would need to be reminded of the fantastic things that could be made and accomplished when ordinary folks decide to go ahead and build themselves the extraordinary with their own two hands. He created a place full of things people believed to be impossibles at one time or another... automotives, flight, robots, and all the amazing technology being explored and invented daily. When Maker Faire partnered with The Henry Ford three years ago, it was a dream come true for me personally and yes, my children did get to meet Dale and all his amazing Maker friends.

My eldest Son's birthday falls in line with the arrival of Maker Faire here in Detroit. Rather than having a party, for the last three years he has spent his birthday money on wristbands for his friends to attend the Faire and experience the exhibits firsthand. This year, all three of our children, along with my husband and I, taught hundreds and hundreds of people how to build paper bracelets in the Young Makers area... the booth was called Paper Connections and it lived up to its name in every sense of those words. We made incredible friends, heard amazing stories, and learned so much about people from literally across the planet. Over 50 thousand slips of paper were folded and woven into the countless urban corsages worn by ordinary people commemorating their time at the "Biggest Show and Tell" event in the world.

Thank you to Maker Faire and The Henry Ford for the two Editor Choice ribbons awarded our booth <3 And a special thanks also to Grant Studios (Australia) for the paper, Fiskars for the scissors, and BIC Mark-it Markers for enabling us to draw out Makermetropolis.

The Henry Ford