[I have always wanted to write a manifesto. This one is as good as any.]

We are the dabblers, the amateurs, the dilettantes. We are the makers, not the owners.

For us, the pleasure is not in owning something. The pleasure is in making, in creating. Being able to say "I made this with my own hands." Mere ownership does not create this feeling for us.

We never get really good at any one thing, because we never invest the time in it. There is always something else to try, something else to do.

We will never win a prize for our creations. Unless there is very little competition.

Our friends compliment us on our creations. They are amazed that we can do this. But deep down we know:

We are like the dancing bear. You do not admire the bear because he dances well. You admire him because he dances at all. You do not admire our creations because they are exceptionally well done. You admire them because we did them at all.

Maybe we do half a dozen projects at the same time. Maybe we have supplies sitting in a closet gathering dust, bought years ago for a long forgotten project. Maybe we'll still do that project. Maybe we won't. Maybe we are already on a wild goose chase again for some exotic component that is just what we need for that next project.

Some people think we are cheap, because we make stuff ourselves rather than shelling out the money to buy it. But dabbling is an expensive pursuit. All the supplies we end up buying and never using again (always telling ourselves might need them again sometime), most of them still half-full (because we always buy too much), all the specialized tools, all the equipment often add up to more than just paying someone else to do something for us.

And that is not even factoring in the time. The time for the first attempt, the second attempt, and the third one that finally kinda works. And the time we start over because the first acceptable attempt was just that -- acceptable, but not quite right. And when we start over again because we think we can still make it a little better. Before we lose interest for good.

For some people, their possessions are an extension of their personality. They become collectors (of art, artifacts, memorabilia). They realize themselves by buying something new, nicer, better. For other people, their products are an extension of their personality. They become artists, writers, craftspeople. They realize themselves by producing something new, something nicer, better.

We dabblers sit in the middle between the collectors and the artists. We are too interested in possessing the product to be artists, and we are too interested in producing our possessions to be collectors.

If you judge us by the criteria for artists, you will have to conclude that we do not produce a lot, and what we produce is of mediocre quality. If you judge us by the criteria for collectors, you will have to conclude that we do not own a lot, and what we own is of mediocre desirability.

We are neither. We are dabblers.