One of the things I love most about being in Mexico is the ever-present sense of the Handmade. I don’t mean to imply that everything down there is handmade, but rather that the way they live their lives is in a Handmade way. The Mexican people share a collective genius for entrepeneurial spirit and do-it-yourself innovation. Just the skills that a Handmade Artisan is always working to improve on for the sake of a successful business and a fulfilling life. I hope that the lessons I’ve learned from my yearly trips down to visit my in-laws will help to inspire your own creative business as it’s inspired mine:
- If you’re trying to drive up a mountainside and your truck stops working, a discarded plastic bottle might just be fashioned into a make-shift hose that will get you the rest of the way up the mountain and back down again. This is the lesson of being innovative! Mexico is a whole country of people who can turn wood scraps into refrigerator door hinges and table scraps into fresh pork. Innovation is like instinct for them, I swear! The other part of this lesson is to jump in and try new things.
- Accept death and decay. As handmade artisans, our main focus is on creation, which is wonderful! But, leaving room for mistakes and disasters and the forces that work against creation is what makes creating more potent and meaningful.
- It takes a village to raise a child. (Literally! My young niece spends as much time with her other aunt as with her mother. No baby-sitter needed!) Community ties are integral to Mexican culture. For your business, this lesson applies two ways: a) maintaining strong community ties means that when you don’t know how to do something for your business, you’ll be more likely to know someone who does, and b) customers are more likely to buy from someone they know, trust and connect with authentically.
- You’ve got to watch out for yourself. Self-reliance is just as important in Mexico as community ties. Don’t expect the world to do you any favors, and that way if a favor gets tossed your way, it’ll be like winning the lottery! Neither walk in front of a vehicle expecting them to stop, nor drive down the road expecting pedestrians not to jump out in front of you.
- Keep things tidy and you’ll be less likely to find a scorpion in your sweatshirt. Yes, that really happened to me a couple of weeks ago. (I hate killing things, but in safety’s interest I stomped on the little guy.) For your business, this lesson goes for your physical workspace and online shops as well as for keeping tidy business records. You might manage to stomp on the scorpion before it stings you, but prevention is always the best medicine. (This is the lesson I have the hardest time implementing, as those who know me personally will attest!!)
- Patience in all things. While it’s important to get things done and make progress, it shouldn’t be at the expense of living well in the moment! I can’t tell you the number of times they said we were about to go somewhere that I sat around all ready for another half hour wondering why I got ready so quickly!! So go ahead and enjoy that movie on the couch and sip that tea while crocheting a blanket for your friend. The now is all we really ever have.
Aside from the great lessons in Mexican society for inspiring the way a handmade business is run, there are innumerable, daily examples in Mexico of people making things with their own hands that inspire the heck out of me! Homemade cheese for sale at the little tienda, little handmade wooden toys in the marketplace, buckets and tin cans re-used as plant pots, the belts and bags my sister-in-law crochets, the handmade crochets and embroideries in San Juan de los Lagos, my mother-in-law making tortillas over a wood-fire from corn my father-in-law grew,
houses people just sort of cobble together themselves, muzzle loaders my husband and his brothers made from chunks of wood and scrap pieces of iron pipe when they were kids. (Crazy, but true!) I could go on all day, but I won’t! Mexico is one of the places where I pull inspiration from, I hope it’s been inspiring for all of you, too 😀
Happy crafting, everyone!
Joy says
Awww, lovely! I lived in Mexico City for three years, so I know exactly what you mean about all these things. Mexico’s acceptance of death was especially important to me, since Americans are raised to deny its presence.
When it comes to handicrafts, I loved how often natural products were turned into art — coconut shells become painted sea creatures, acorns and beans work great as beads — etc.
Nancy says
Wow, what great lessons to share. I think it’s easy to forget many of those things as Americans as we are so accustomed to buying new when something breaks and having things work immediately. We could really learn a thing or two about problem solving from them!
Jenny Hoople says
Thanks, Joy 🙂
Yes, I love how many natural materials are used in handicrafts, too! My husband’s grandfather showed him how to make mourning dove snares using two different types of grasses: one that’s flexible for the snare part and one that’s more strong and upright to spring up when the trap’s set. He also knows which rocks are the ones you can carve into molcajetes (like mortar and pestles for grinding salsas). Handmade is everywhere!
Jenny Hoople says
I agree, Nancy! It can seem really weird when they’ll just throw an empty bottle out onto the side of the road, but when you need an empty bottle to get your truck moving again, it’s a lifesaver 🙂 They still have a lot of returnable glass bottles down there, too. Re-use is just a way of survival!