Prompt: Write about something you have made.
All right, the prompt for today, June 5th, 2026, is: Write about something you have made.
The first thing that comes to mind is that a lot of what I’ve made—and I have made a few things—doesn’t feel complete. I think where I get stuck is that I see the faults before I see the progress.
For example, I made a custom wall unit for our living room. Because of the way the house is designed, it’s a really narrow space, and there’s a closet door that needs to open. We couldn’t find a solution that worked, so I built this narrow wall unit with bookshelves and storage.
And it’s great. It fits, and it works.
But I forgot to include enough support, so it bows slightly, and the doors don’t open and close smoothly. I just haven’t fixed it. Not for any reason other than that every time I went to the shop afterward, I neglected to cut the piece I needed to fix it, or I didn’t plan it properly.
So whenever I look at it, I see that fault.
Whenever I make a pen that I quite like, I can see the faults in it too. Either the finish didn’t turn out quite right, or there’s a little nick somewhere—something that makes it feel incomplete.
I’m trying to think of other examples. The Adirondack chairs I made for our yard, and the wagon that went with them. The wagon handle came off because I didn’t design it properly. Using a screw for the handle was a bad idea. As the kids in the neighbourhood used it, the joint wore out and eventually failed. The handle just came off.
So even though I’ve made these things, they don’t feel complete.
And I think this is a longstanding issue. I’ve used recent examples here, but it’s probably been true for a long, long time.
Making something and completing something doesn’t mean that it will be faultless. I think that’s one of the big things I have to get over: accepting that I’ve made something even though it has faults.
I don’t know if that makes sense.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that, for me to consider something made, it has to be faultlessly complete—without error.
But that can’t be right.
Things have errors in them. Handmade objects naturally come with imperfections.
So I think that’s where I’ve landed with this prompt today.
Anyway, you can find this prompt and more at Letters’ Lounge, www.letterslounge.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this prompt—or any of the others—so please leave a comment with a link to your thoughts and ideas.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow, folks.
This transcript was lightly cleaned up with the help of AI to improve readability while preserving the original voice and intent of the recording.
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