Last Friday saw the annual TEDxBrighton event take over Brighton Dome to offer a series of inspiring talks from speakers of all backgrounds. From knife-maker to journalist, from Frog Agent to poet and from truffle hunter to novelist, there really was something for everyone!
This year’s theme was “Many Hands” and it was fascinating to get the speakers’ views on topics like collaboration, consumerism, sharing messages and knowledge, and using our hands. Most importantly, they spoke about their passion for doing what they love, with real genuine passion and we’d like to share some of it with you.
Just make it
In a world where everything is readily available to buy, have we lost our ability to make things from raw materials with our own fair hands? That was one of the issues for discussion in the session dedicated to ‘Making’. As Jacques Peretti explained in his talk, this kind of consumerism means that the middle class rely on income and other people’s skills so much that their whole lifestyle is precarious.
Other speakers in this session reminded us that when we make things ourselves, not only do we end up with a finished product that we can use, we also go through the manufacturing process, which is where the real joy lies. The whole process brings pleasure and therapeutic benefits that we simply don’t experience when we buy a product.
One such speaker was EJ Osbourne (Founder of Hatchet and Bear) who is passionate about wooden spoons. She studied product design and arboriculture and combined both disciplines to start creating wooden objects at a time in her life where she needed more simplicity. EJ believes that the process of making is so healing and empowering that it has a profound affect on people. She said that she sees this everyday in her spoon workshops, when people get so caught into the process that they forget what it is they’re actually carving! She confessed: “I’m reluctant to say this because I love spoons and spoons are my living, but you could say it’s not entirely about the spoon.”
Other speakers shared how they came to start making guitars, bicycles, telescopic walking sticks, knives and surfboards. Most of them started by creating these things for themselves first out of curiosity, never thinking that they would sells these products one day. But passion, hard work and a love of their product saw their hobbies move to a whole new level: a way of living as well as a source of income to sustain a life they love.
Is there anything better than living a life doing what you truly love? Surf dude James Otter believes there is, here’s why…
Taking doing what you love a step further…
James (Founder of Otter Surfboards) is passionate about wood and surfing. He’s also conscious about the environment and believes in solutions that have the least impact possible. With a background in furniture design he challenged himself to create wooden surfboards that were light, environmentally friendly, and that would be a serious contender to those made from polystyrene foam and fiberglass.
When he figured out how best to produce these wooden surfboards, he started building them for others. Now, when you have created a unique process that your livelihood depends on, you might think twice before sharing your recipe for success but James didn’t! Now people come from all over to spend a week with him in Cornwall building their own bespoke surfboards. He also inspires young people to become involved in crafts like woodworking and start their own business.
Both James and EJ have discovered that sharing their passion and the pleasure they get through the whole process of making is priceless. They both believe that putting time and effort into making something you love can have life changing implications and they say that seeing others transform before their eyes, and change their lives too, is the ultimate reward.
So it seems that our hands and our souls are connected. Try making more things and see what it does for you!
What other fascinating insights did we take away from TEDxBrighton?
- Sam Roddick, Founder of Coco de Mer: “Where we spend money will determine what kind of businesses we want to see grow.” This made us realise that as consumers, we really do have the power to change things just by consciously deciding what we buy and where we buy from.
- Karl Mattingly, Founder of slowXchange: “The crowd is here to stay”. Karl shared his thoughts on the wisdom and value of crowds, and how crowds are taking over established and specialized entities to generate and distribute more transparent and accurate information.
- Stefania Druga, Global Team Lead at Afrimakers: “You can build a microscope with an old webcam at home!” Stefania talked about how teaching children in developing countries to create prototypes with available resources is the way to build entrepreneurship that will grow the economy
- Jacques Peretti, Investigative Journalist and Broadcaster: Jacques said that when we stopped making things with our hands, we became economically vulnerable and started relying too much on our ability to buy things. Consumerism created the middle-class, which is becoming what is called the “precariat”.
- Ruth Anslow, Co-Founder of hiSbe Food: Ruth spoke about how getting your message out there and taking the time to build a supportive crowd makes it easier to succeed when you are ready to launch your business. In other words: “put your lighthouse on full beam for all to see”.
You can read the summaries of each talk on the TEDxBrighton 2014 live blog.
If you were invited to give a TEDx Talk about making, what would yours be about?
