I learned to work with clay back in the 90s when I was a stay-at-home mom. I clearly remember my first night in class at our local community college. I was in my early thirties and so uncomfortable in my own skin. I am certain I stuck out as exactly like I felt — a frumpy fresh-permed mom in baggy jeans and a new Hanes sweatshirt. My classmates all appeared much cooler. As time passed, I changed. I not only became more comfortable with who I was, but how I interacted with others. By the end of the class I no longer felt out of place. While I absolutely understood I would never fit in with a young group of experimenting budding artists, I had settled in to who I was and what I could offer in that atmosphere.

There’s a point prior to creating a piece of pottery when the clay needs to be wedged. This hands-on technique involves physical work and can be incredibly gratifying. Wedging is the point when you really begin to see the first evidence of how much the original object can change. You can throw it on the table, punch it, pound it, knead it — all in an effort to work the clay and release trapped air bubbles. If left trapped inside, the pockets of air can cause the entire piece to explode under the pressure of firing. When a piece of pottery explodes inside the kiln the shrapnel from the explosion can harm other pieces of art in the kiln. Therefore, we were taught how to respect not just our art but that of others.

Once wedged, clay can be thrown on the wheel, shaped from slab or coils, or sculpted. While the technique applied has much to do with the final product, the clay and the working environment contribute greatly to the process. Not all clay responds positively to hand-built techniques. Not all clay behaves on a potter’s wheel. Some clay has coarsely ground particles of fired clay, called grog, mixed in to the clay body to increase its strength. If heavily grogged clay is thrown on the wheel, the clay might take the form forced upon it, but fight the process — leaving your hands chewed up for handling it in a way it wasn’t meant to be handled.

Just when the clay is to a point we are happy with, it must be left alone to dry before heading to the next step. While the piece might still be under the supervision of the artist, it needs time to settle, to become what it will be.

According to Ceramic Arts Network, “Clay is a touchy material and it is important that potters understand the clay drying process to avoid problems. You can hardly blame clay for being fussy. It undergoes a lot of physical and chemical changes from wet clay to … finished piece.”

Once successfully dried, the piece goes into the kiln for the firing process. If the clay wasn’t worked properly, if it wasn’t dried completely, the pressure of firing could destroy the piece and harm others. The temperature inside a kiln is so extreme the properties of the piece actually change. They can never again be in their original form.

It is funny, really. I quickly skimmed the material you just read and it struck me like a ton of bricks — I’m not talking about clay. I’m talking about people. We begin life as a basic lump of clay — a bunch of properties mixed together. We have characteristics just like clay in a studio. Our personality might be a bit more elastic or our temperament could have a little more roughness, or grog, in it. We may be porcelain white or perhaps we are a rosier terracotta or dark speckled brown.

Our basic components seldom change, but our properties can change. Regardless of how we start, how we handle and care for ourselves has much to do with who we become. Each day we are reshaped. The pressure of life can make us stronger. It can also reveal pockets of vulnerability. Without proper care and handling we might not be prepared for the journey.

We work every day to become who we’re going to be. It is a simple truth. Who we are today is not who we will be tomorrow. We need to respect the journey and regard ourselves with compassion. Just as today we are different than we were yesterday, tomorrow we will be new again. How we handle ourselves can determine what we become. While we can never be what we were, we can always be more than we are.