…we should celebrate and foster education, maintenance, analysis, critique, and, above all, caregiving — all of the undervalued, under appreciated, ongoing work of making other people’s lives better.
Debbie Chachra, “Beyond Making,” in Making Things and Drawing Boundaries: Experiments in the Digital Humanities, ed. Jentry Sayers, Debates in the Digital Humanities (University of Minnesota Press, 2017).
This quote caught my attention because it emphasized the importance of valuing different forms of labor and effort that are often times under appreciated and go unnoticed in todays society. The quote calls people out for not recognizing and celebrating jobs such as education and caregiving that play a very important role in improving and sustaining communities in todays world. Often times when people think of “making”, they think of visible, tangible products that hold some type of value, whereas this quote highlights the significance of invisible forms of labor such as teaching and caregiving as the most valuable that “make” society work. This quote urges people to shift their values and recognizing the importance and impact of these often overlooked contributions and to appreciate the people who do these things. Overall this quote highlights that a “meaningful” life is not just about producing and getting things, but about creating a understanding, connection, and care for each other.
This quote connects to me on a personal level because I felt like the quote called me out for overlooking all of the things it mentioned. Personally, I never really took the time to appreciate any educators or caregivers I have had, which now looking back on it makes me feel somewhat bad about myself for neglecting these things that have been a big part of my life. When I gave this quote some more thought, I realized that it was implying that any “making/work” that is invisible and important should still be celebrated, which made me think about any time I had to work in a team. In group or community settings, while each persons individual contributions, opinions and thoughts often go unnoticed to everyone who is not part of the group, each contribution plays a crucial role in the overall success of the project.
In the realm of Digital Humanities, I am most excited to explore 3D modeling, because while I have explored Tinkercad in the past at a superficial level, I am excited to delve deeper into 3D modeling and learn more techniques and tools that people use for modeling. I am excited to learn the basics, but also the more complex parts and hopefully design some complicated and cool things.
