Hands to work...

I distinctly remember having a new appreciation for the work produced by one's hands when I spent a great deal of time making baked treats for Christmas. For no reason other than just because I thought I'd try it, I decided to bake brownies, cookies and lemon squares and sell them (and give some to friends and family as gifts). All that measuring, stirring, mixing, kneading and cleaning up helped me find a new respect for the fruits of one's labor in the kitchen. That I had no electric mixer and simply relied on manual mixing to produce orders that eventually poured in gave me more reason to appreciate the hard work involved in manual labor. Hence, the finished product seemed to me a work of love -- one that entailed sacrifice, dedication and careful fashioning.

So when I came across some videos showing how shoes and bags are made, I watched them with interest. Machines are employed for part of the process in the whole manufacturing business, but the care with which each product is crafted using the artisan's hands cannot be missed.

I wish local brands produced videos like these, too, for their wares.