Create Things You Can Hold
A reminder that not all creativity needs to scale, some of it just needs to be felt.
My first introduction to creativity was LEGO.
LEGO was the perfect canvas, a world with rules that could be tossed aside the moment you had a better idea. I always followed the instructions at first, building the set I bought and letting it sit on the shelf for a while. I’d admire it. But eventually, I’d feel the itch. The need to tear it apart and make something new. To ignore the rules and build the thing I actually wanted to hold. Castles, boats, islands, hotdog carts. Whatever I could imagine, I could make.
Now I’m an adult. I work mostly online, editing videos, writing content, designing graphics and websites for other people. And I never touch the things I make anymore.
I’m proud of a lot of what I’ve made. But lately, it feels like something’s missing.
As a kid, I’d spend hours outside trying to mold sticks, logs, and scraps of wood into a bench, a table, or a tent. Covered in splinters and dirt, I’d walk back inside proud of whatever I’d cobbled together with rusty nails and a secondhand toolset.
So why did it stop?
Did I grow out of making physical things? Did I run out of time? Am I even capable of making something cool with my hands anymore?
These questions have been sitting in the back of my mind for a while.
In the essay Make Something Heavy, Anu Atluru writes:
“The modern makers’ machine does not want you to create heavy things. It runs on the internet, powered by social media, fueled by mass appeal, and addicted to speed. It thrives on spikes, scrolls, and screenshots. It resists weight and avoids friction. It does not care for patience, deliberation, or anything but production.”
That was the answer: friction.
Making real things takes friction. There are so many more ways to mess up. So many ways to waste time and money. No command-Z on a keyboard.
Making things online is almost frictionless. I praise this MacBook's trackpad for feeling like it has no friction at all. You can create without getting dirty, without wasting materials. The only side effects are time, headaches, and a bit of eye strain. I love making things online, I enjoy the challenge of making something exist that anyone in the world can experience.
But now, I miss the friction.
Making things online is great. You can build massive businesses all from a laptop. You can pour your time and energy into something that matters, your professional pursuits, your online business, your graphic design portfolio. You can create a body of work that only exists digitally and use it to generate a living for yourself, to buy real things like food, a home.
But for the sake of creativity, maybe it's time to set the laptop aside and make a craft. To feel the friction of making something with your hands. It doesn’t need a goal. It doesn’t need to scale. Just make something for the sake of it.
There’s an unfortunate truth — especially in the U.S. — that the moment someone learns how to do something, they immediately try to monetize it. Learned how to make candles? Better start a TikTok and open a store. Just picked up graphic design? Great, now go chase big clients.
There’s nothing wrong with making money from your work — usually. But it’s also important to make things for no reason at all. I didn’t try to sell those benches I made in the backyard as a kid. I made them because I wanted somewhere to sit while I read Magic Treehouse.
Our creativity can be used for so much more than a digital content portfolio. We can make things just to enjoy them. There are plenty of people out there making beautiful, physical things. But there are also many who haven’t held something they’ve made in a long time.
If there’s something you miss building, get out the tools. Break up the LEGO set. Reignite the kind of creativity that isn’t worried about scaling or deadlines. Just build something.
As I write this, I’m sitting in an apartment I moved into recently. I’m still missing a lot of things, a key holder, shelves, coffee cups, picture frames, art. But as I look around, I see how many opportunities there are to make something. To take the extra time and feel the friction.
If you’ve made it this far, here’s your challenge: make something you can hold.
Need a notebook? Try binding one yourself. Need a side table? Try to build it. Want a painting on your wall? Paint it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Just let it remind you that you can make things, not just things for the internet, but anything you want.
It might suck.
It might wobble. It might splinter. You might waste a Saturday on something that turns out crooked.
But that’s the point.
Not everything you make needs to end up in a portfolio. Sometimes creativity is just about being present. About making something you can hold. About feeling the friction.
So go make something.
Keep Creating and Repeating
- James
🧰 Make Your Own Things: A video from Scott Yu-Jan on how 3D printing became his outlet for creativity. This video sparked the essay above.
🎨 FamousAdolf: A Barcelona-based illustrator blending the physical and digital into his amazing visuals.
📦 Greg Olijnyk: A Melbourne artist who sculpts robots and architecture out of the everyday medium of cardboard.
📐 Design Principles by Stu: A living library of design laws, ideas, and frameworks worth bookmarking.
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This week’s advice…
The Art of Selling Yourself Without Selling Out
Some weeks you need a strategy. Some weeks you need someone to say, “Yep, that feeling is normal.”
This week We’re excited to highlight Internet People, a project by Anna Seirian and MJ Mayes, two creatives who met on TikTok and built a platform to support artists, entrepreneurs, and makers navigating the messy reality of the internet.
They’re helping creative people just start—with a podcast, a co-working club, and a newsletter that encourages letting go of perfection. Through practical tools and thoughtful reflections, they’re helping artists and entrepreneurs build momentum and stay consistent.
Check out one of their favorite pieces:
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Love this James!