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Heartwings Love Notes 311 - Who Will Teach Us?

Heartwings says, "There is much to be learned from those who know how to do."

Because my mother wanted me taught to sew and considered herself too impatient for that, she hired a seamstress to give me lessons. She did teach me to knit, however my skills did not extend to maintaining quality for an endless series of repetitive motion. Recognizing I was not cut out for knitting, I handed my needles on to the next generation.

My daughters did better than I; one of them even has taught it. Unlike many in her generation she has the ability to pass on a skill once essential for survival, now a hobby. In traditional societies life depended on survival skills taught by the elders of the tribe or village. They were much valued and looked up to. In our youth oriented culture, with the dwindling of the need for skills elders once passed on, a lack of respect for them has come as well.

On one of my Heartwings Place cable TV shows for preschoolers I showed how to sew on a button including how to make a shank. Soon thereafter a mother stopped me in the market and complimented me on teaching this skill to young children. It may be that few children of today will know how this is done. Many women in their thirties have never even learned to iron. They never had to, and no one has taught them how.

The home making skills I learned growing up as well as later on are useful to me today. They have saved me money and time as well as become a source of satisfaction. I am grateful to my mother for seeing to it that I learned what enabled me to do that. It may be that as throwing things away becomes more costly the skills of repair and making from scratch will again become valuable. Perhaps in the long run that will be a blessing.

May you pass on your skills and help make the next generation's lives more meaningful.

Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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