06/29/2026
I will not love you
wrapped in layers of plastic,
waiting for a barcode to give it meaning.
I will love you
in stained fingertips,
in petals gathered one by one.
I would rather spend a hundred hours
learning the curve of a paintbrush,
the rhythm of a crochet hook,
the softness of pressed flowers,
the careful folding of paper,
the scent of wood shavings,
than spend five hurried minutes
buying another object
that was made for everyone.
Enough factories
breathing smoke into skies.
Enough ships
crossing oceans heavy with things
people never truly needed.
Enough forests
Knocked down for packaging
that survives longer than the gift itself.
Enough rivers
asked to swallow dyes.
I cannot stitch together
every fractured coastline,
cannot gather every drifting bottle,
cannot pull every piece of plastic
from the sea.
But I can choose
what my own hands create.
When I gather wildflowers,
I gather them gently.
When I press them,
I preserve a season
instead of manufacturing another.
When I paint,
I am not asking machines
to speak for me.
When I crochet,
every loop remembers
the heartbeat that made it.
Every uneven stitch
is proof
that someone sat in silence
thinking of only one person.
I dream of a home
filled not with expensive things
but meaningful ones.
Frames holding paintings
made on rainy afternoons.
Blankets stitched
through long winters.
Dried bouquets
that whisper of summer fields.
Wood carved
slowly,
carefully,
until it became something
worth passing down.
Not because it was valuable.
Because someone loved enough
to make it.
Imagine if our homes
were museums of affection
instead of collections of consumption.
Imagine if every shelf
held stories
instead of brands.
If every decoration
carried fingerprints
instead of factory stamps.
If birthdays
were celebrated
not by spending more,
but by creating more.
Would we treasure things longer?
Would we throw away less?
Would we remember
that beauty
does not need to arrive
in overnight shipping?