Instant Gratification

In this world, we are always looking for instant gratification.  The rise of the instant one cup coffee machines, movies on-demand, text messaging…  What has happened to the gradual percolation of coffee in the morning that steady grows in strength just as we do as we stretch our way to wakefulness?  What has happened to going to the movies or the theatre with a friend and making an event out of entertainment?  What has happened to regular paper mail?!!  The art of writing a letter has long been lost.  We in the pottery world are not immune to the desires of gaining results on the spot.  This fall, my mother and I hosted a pit fire for the Collar City Clay Guild.  It was a beautiful fall day.  The sun was shining, the leaves were turning red and gold, and the hot water heater converted to a fire pit was stoked and ready to go.  We took our pots, added the mishmash of coffee grounds, salt, seaweed, and cherry pits and wrapped them tight in heavy foil to make our pseudo-saggars.  Into the pit they went, ready to be engulfed by orange flame and with a click of the lighter we set our wood on fire.  For an hour we watched over our pots engrossed by the heat and flame and then we let the fire die.  We turned our pots over to the fire gods and wished them luck.  We walked away and let them rest.  In two more hours time, we went back to check on our pots and to our amazement we found oranges, greens, and blues creating depth across our pots.  Talk about instant gratification?!!  When normally we fire a kiln for 18 hours, then let it cool for at least that long before we can open it up to peek inside- I embrace the pit fire when I can touch my creation in a matter of hours.  But there is a cost of that instant enjoyment of quick pit firing….pieces are not functional.  I can’t use them to put my tea in; I can’t put fresh flowers in vases; and can’t eat ice cream out of bowls.  So while we love the relatively instantaneous satisfaction that pit firing or even raku can give us, we must also embrace the slow progression of high firing in order to make the most of our clay.  Finding the balance between the two is the perfect combination…perhaps in both pottery and our lives.  Maybe while we send that text message out, we can also take time to make a phone call to say ‘hello’.  Perhaps, instead of sending an email we can send a hand written thank-you note.  Find the balance.