Dorodango: Meditative Art; Or a stressful task for a perfectionist?

Keep reading if this you’ve heard this before……You read about a new hobby, and it tickles a neuron in your brain that sets off the following cascade:

Step 1: Discovery

Step 2: Consume all the information on the hobby

Step 3: BUY ALL THE SUPPLIES

Step 4 is Decision time…. will you actually go through with the hobby!!??

What if you’re NOT great at it right away?

But wait, what if this is the piano to your Beethoven-like talent??

If you share this energy, know that you’re not alone. My tendency is to throw caution to the wind, take the leap, and jump right into the making! Scary, I know, but then the fear REALLY creeps in: what If I’m not good at it right away? What if I screw up my first attempt?

Let me tell you that Dorodango…….is forgiving. It will require time and patience, but in the end, it is forgiving of mistakes and rewarding with beauty and thoughtfulness.

Your list of supplies is short and cheap: Land (dirt), water, clay powder (or finer dirt), time, and patience. Now, I won’t get into the recipe quantities, what to add, what to do when. There’s plenty of YouTube videos to illustrate that, and I’ll link to one HERE.

What you should know is that you’re essentially creating a mud dough or mud ball. Not that much different from creating bread dough. Except, as this mud ball hardens, you’ll shape it step by step, continuously refining its curves, and ultimately polishing it to a finished product.

The Dorodango is finished when you say it’s finished. There are no rules that determine the level of sheen or how perfectly round it should be. If the mud starts to crack, wet it again, add some more mud and keep shaping! The idea is to create something wholly made of the earth and solely shaped by your hands. In that concept, there’s simplicity and elegance in carrying out this exercise.

Below are pictures of my journey from Dirt to Dorodango.

Take the leap!