Charleen Touchette is Quebecois, Acadian and Metis of mixed blood French and Canadian First Nation ancestry and grew up bilingual in French and English. An artist, author, activist and mother of four, she lives in the mountains in Santa Fe, where she is the New Mexico Coordinator of Martin Luther King III’s Realizing the Dream Initiative. Charleen has authored the award-winning, critically-acclaimed and banned book, 
| Handwork for Happiness and Longevity |
| Thursday, 17 November 2011 | Charleen Touchette | Blog Entry |
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When I was a girl, nearly all of the women and girls did handwork like knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlepoint, appliqué, quilting, sewing and tatting; and the boys and men kept their hands busy whittling, tying flies or tinkering with engines and radios. Children grew up seeing the many ways raw materials like fiber, cloth, metal, wires, nails and wood could be transformed with time and determination into something new that didn’t exist before. The process of creating was magical and all around us: close to home, down the street at a neighbor’s and in the corner shop. It was comforting to see how the basic materials and tools used were simple building blocks—and the techniques and skills to turn them into something were learnable, step by step through watching others and practicing over time. A generation later, few children experience the wonder of watching someone knit a scarf, embroider a handkerchief, hand sew a quilt, whittle a whistle, build a bookcase or construct a crystal radio. The products they see are already made by unseen distant workers or digitally operated robots in factories on the other side of the world—and come packaged in shiny impenetrable plastic. Seeing somebody make something with his or her hands has become an all too rare experience, as is the look of contentment and aura of focused serenity the repetitive motions of handwork and the satisfaction of making something gives the handworker. The palpable joys of handwork enrich life on multiple levels—from physical toning of arm and torso muscles and strengthening of small-muscle dexterity to sharpening of eye-hand coordination and exercising the brain and memory through counting and repeating numbers to form patterns. Handwork engages the mind, body and spirit in ways that are dynamic and rejuvenating. People who keep their hands, senses and brains active through creative and productive work tend to live longer, happier lives. Octogenarians often credit their positive outlooks, sharp minds and healthy bodies to the lifelong practice of handwork. My new daughter-in-law’s lively grandmother of 96 years says, “I just love doing handwork,” with a smile of pure joy as she proudly displays her needlepoint skills and queries me about the pattern of the shawl I am knitting. Grandma danced past 2 a.m. at her granddaughter’s wedding and I can’t help but think that her sharp mind and energetic game attitude are in part attributable to a lifetime of purposeful creative work. New Mexico weaver Doña Agueda Martinez delighted at standing at her loom. Her good nature and humor brightened her Medañales home, bedecked as it was with rows of red chili ristras she grew and strung to dry. Doña Agueda lived to be 102 years old and wove daily up until the very end of her long life.
Happily, today people are rediscovering the joys of handwork. They gather together in knitting circles, Stitch’n’Bitch sessions and spin-offs. Worldwide, Knit In Public (KIP) events draw hundreds of knitters—men, women and children of all ages—who sit and knit in parks, bookstores and malls. Navajo weavers like Roy Garnenez instruct young people to prepare and spin wool for weaving and Roy Kady in Teec Nos Pos teaches how to make beautiful scarves—for gifting and sale—with raw Navajo Churro wool, using felting, needle appliqué and needlepoint techniques. Navajo Spin-Offs bring shepherds and weavers together in winter for storytelling and spinning. Grandmothers teach grandchildren to knit, crochet, quilt, bead and weave. Students at Waldorf Schools learn to knit before reading. Teens in youth centers teach each other how to knit, rip and sew their favorite caps and leg warmers. Mayu’s Peruvian artisans knit in public every day. Everywhere, handworkers pass on skills and teach the young, and not so young, age-old traditions of working with simple materials from the Earth to make something new. And, in the process, they build community and share a practical secret to long life and happiness. Help the Earth, Spread the Word: Share this article with family and friends by clicking on the "Email This" or "Share This" links below right. Then see TODAY'S OTHER TOP STORIES. Additional resources:
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Watch spiders weave a web, bees create a hive and beavers build a dam. Earth’s creatures thrive when occupied with productive work and interaction with materials from the Earth.
But the beneficial effects of handwork on longevity and happiness are not only observed anecdotally. Case Western Reserve University neurology professor, Dr. Robert P. Friedland, has found that “people with Alzheimer's were, as young adults, less mentally and physically active outside their jobs than people without the disease.” 
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