Happy New Year!
It’s that time for new beginnings, new goals, new resolutions. 2017 could be the best year yet. But, what happens when you already have a nagging feeling that old habits will set back in before you know it or that you won’t stick to your plan? Statistics say that only 10% of New Year resolutions are kept, so it would be completely understandable.
Perhaps you have spent the past weekend gearing up with new recipes or dusting off the exercise equipment in the basement. We believe in you, but here’s something to think about. What about a resolution to make “something” – including yourself? Consider changing your mindset or your personal culture to one of creating or making or building or constructing and see what happens.
Make Yourself & Makerspaces
Architect and makerspace director, Bob Vajgrt, believes whole-heartedly that the answer to keeping your resolutions is 
exactly that – making. He recently attended a lecture by the CEO of GameDesk and shared that a “proverbial light bulb” went on in his head during the talk. He says, “When we think about change or that New Year’s resolution, we often think about the “thing,” the exercise equipment or the Weight Watchers menu, and we neglect to think about changing our mindset and our culture.” And, a culture that revolves around “making” helps “make” resolutions.
2017 might just be the year you keep those resolutions if you can change your mentality to one of “making.” You can literally and figuratively “make” yourself anything.
Resolutions
The Open Bench Project in Portland, Maine, is exactly the kind of space that helps shift your perspective to one of making. Our focus is on cultivating a community of makers by providing access to studio/work space, tools and resources around skill and capacity building. We provide an opportunity for makers of all types – amateurs, professionals, hobbyists, entrepreneurs, youth, artists, scientists, engineers – to explore ideas, hone and learn new skills, and collaborate with thought partners across disciplines. Striving to help people explore, question, critique, and recreate the built world around them, OBP is a space for people to bring their ideas into reality. We believe the act of making and encouraging critical thinking about the designed world fosters confidence and curiosity – qualities that will enrich individual lives as well as our local and shared communities, not to mention help you keep your New Year resolutions.
Mr. Vajgrt also reminds us to get dirty in the learning space, allow for experimentation and failure, put creations on display, and invite family and friends to join. Making resolutions goes deep.
And, whether it’s the Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Electronics Lab, Screen Printing Zone, other members, or a place to mess about, we’ve got space and people for you and your projects to help you “make.” Get your stuff out of the kitchen or garage, come join us, and let’s stick to those New Year resolutions together.
And then some,
Your Friends @ OBP
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