I've noticed this obsession lately with a Do-It-Yourself mentality. Further referred to as DIY. I think it's great that people want to be self reliant and even "crafty" or whatever you would like to call it. I do however think it has come to an obsessive level. Pinterest certainly doesn't help. I'm a fan of the site just as much as the next person. I do think it has it's downsides though. Why in the world to people obsessively "pin" things they will never use or "do" with the thought of, "I could do that". Or more self righteously, "Whatever, I could SOOO do that! And for pennies! Why would I pay for THAT?!"
I'm going to introduce a counter argument here, for what it's worth. Just because you can, could, thought, you could do something yourself, doesn't mean you should! Honestly, sometimes the things we comment about being able to do ourselves is just plain rude. Since this is technically a food related a blog I'll give you my first example.
I feed my daughter food that I make myself. But let's think about that. I buy the food from a grocery store, who bought it from a farm. Okay, so I prepare her food myself. So WHAT if someone else buys the jars of food from the grocery store? Just because they could puree their own baby food, doesn't mean they want to, and doesn't mean they should!
Next example. I am ever trying to figure out the best way to run my photography business. A big question that goes along with that is how much to charge. I can't tell you how much commentary I receive on my pricing. Negative I might add. I think sometimes the DIY mentality is anything other than "free" is highway robbery. Just because you maybe could spend years (like I have) learning to use your camera, invest money on high quality equipment, spend money on a college education, create and pay maintenance fees on a website, and the list goes on, doesn't mean you SHOULD. Why not pay someone else to do this? Why do we insist on being good at what someone else is good at? Why do we think that someone should not make a living off something they are talented at?
The final moment of clarity came for me last night. I have been obsessing about these skirts. Long story short, small business owner with an indie clothing label. From what I gathered, she has been in business for maybe a year or two? On her blog, people were leaving comments about her clothes such as, "wow, love your skirts, but they are way to expensive for me!"Several people left comments of that nature. People. This isn't some big corporate label you are making these comments to. This is one woman trying to pursue her dream. It's just a rude thing to say. Why should she give them away? How much is her dream worth to you? How much would your dream be worth? I can only make guesses about the overhead costs involved with creating such things. Manufacturing costs, shipping, and wow. It would be so greedy of her to actually turn a profit on something she is talented at. Good for her for being savvy enough to charge what she deserves. The nail in the coffin was when I pinned the skirt on Pinterest and saw the other pins from her site. Basically a lot of the comments indicated they were going to try and make the skirt themselves, copy her. First of all, I would be willing to wager that you never make that skirt pinterest-er. Second of all, just because yes, you could buy a sewing machine, learn to use it, buy the fabric, the zipper, the buttons, etc. doesn't mean you should. Plus, you do know that the reason most clothes in our country are dirt cheap is because they are made overseas and people are paid a $1 or $2 an hour. I think this woman is worth far more than that. I want people to support my small business, so I supported her today and bought a skirt.
I try to do things myself, too. Please keep in mind, just because you could technically do something "yourself" doesn't mean you should, or should want to. Break free people!
