The importance of creating things

has been occupying me of late.
One of the Senior Cat's friends rang a couple of days ago. She was wondering if it was possible to get a piece of timber from him. Her daughter wants a shelf. She thinks her son-in-law can cope with making this.
The timber is not a problem. The Senior Cat still has a timber stash like the yarn stash of many knitters of my acquaintance and the fabric stash of many quilters of my acquaintance. 
He even has a few church pews left. They were given to him when the church on the main road merged with the church up the hill. They are made from a species of oak specific to Downunder.
The rest of those pews were turned into toys and other items for two church fetes and a local women's shelter.
I answered the phone and told the Senior Cat what the call was about. He sighed.
    "Plenty there. They can help themselves. There are still a couple of the longer pews there. They might be ideal. If he isn't much of a woodworker I can tell him what to do."
The son-in-law may appear some time today to investigate.
We also have two visitors coming early this afternoon. One of them is a spinner, knitter and crocheter. Her work is beautiful. It is not simply well done but also imaginative. She likes to try things out, to experiment. 
The friend she is coming with likes mosaic work. To me this is incredibly fiddly and hard on the hands but the potential textures and colours and lines still fascinate me. I don't think she has had much time of late but I am sure she will also have something to show me.
The Senior Cat is looking forward to all this because, although he no longer prowls out to his beloved shed he is still wants to make things. The floor around his desk and office chair was a mess of paper again yesterday. He is trying something new in origami and the related arts. I have not inquired too closely. He doesn't like to be bothered until he has worked things out. I know he will talk to the mosaics person while the yarn person and I look at dyes and plies and more.
The Senior Cat often talks to other people about the importance of creating things. He has done it all his life. He encouraged us to do it and the students he had in schools to do it. The most content people I know are those who create something. It doesn't matter what it is - a meal, a garden, garments, objects, poems, books, sculptures. They aren't always happy because we all have down times but even when they are unhappy there is something lurking there that gives them hope for the future. 
There is timber here the Senior Cat will never use now. Brother Cat will take some of it with him. We will eventually find a home for the rest. I have more yarn than I can use too - much of it given to me. I will find a home for that too one day.
But I intend to use as much of it as possible - because we need to create things.