Throw a Pot

Throw a Pot

There is something deeply sensual about working with clay. Perhaps it harks back to the child in all of us, back to a time when we liked to play with mud. Children these days often have immune systems that don't fully develop because they don't eat enough dirt. There's something about working with clay that connects us back to this primal part of ourselves. I remember working with clay in elementary school. Making coil pots, and then having a chance to work on a potter's wheel for the first time. I remember the thrill of being able to control its speed with my foot–the first accelerator a kids gets to use. And I remember the importance of keeping the pot centered. In this way, throwing a pot becomes a metativity. You get it off center and it goes spinning wildly off. A good reminder of the importance of staying centered, particularly when life is moving.