In my experience, it is easy to move through life feeling like change is glacial. However, certain times in my life have been marked by a sudden dramatic change, and it is pretty clear that's what's happening to us as a society right now. We have been given this opportunity -- this responsibility -- to examine the bones of our lives and to judge what is truly necessary and how to fulfill those needs. The jumble of emotions I feel as I move about my day evidences the inadequacy of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs (below). Of course, there has to be a way to organize our thinking, but my fears about not being able to buy food at the grocery store rank pretty close to the sense of longing I have at not being able to spend time with my friends. Maybe civilized society has warped my thinking. Maybe the thought of going hungry feels too remote for it to seem like a real need. However you slice it, hunkering down for an indeterminate amount of time with only my immediate family feels like a huge challenge. Working remotely calls into question the most fundamental aspects of my job: what is its most essential purpose? How can I fulfill that purpose while also remaining appropriately distant from other humans?
You came here for Makerspace activities, not philosophical ramblings. But I can't do this unless I can pull you on board with me, creating a full understanding of the joy and power of these activities. Here's why I believe Makerspace to be central: when a person makes something with her hands, connects a concept with a physical reality, or solves a problem in the actual world with actual moving parts, it engages her intellect and motivation together to create progress beyond other educational fields. Motivation is key. Makerspace activities are usually fun. Some might describe them dismissively as "just fun." But here's the important part: the fun creates the motivation. Fun powers progress when problems arise.
By working on Makerspace problems, whether they are engineering design, experimental design, coding, circuitry, design thinking, or even crafting, individuals are able to feel their own power over their world. We develop our sense of agency, of being the authors of our lives rather than the victims of it. We realize we can make dinner with ingredients we have at home, rather than those we wish we could have bought at the store. And hopefully, we realize we can solve much bigger problems than that.
