Snow 6” deep and more defies mankind to carpet the Eastern Seaboard once more. The mild winter days that thus far enticed a pair of Canadian geese to the pond at the front of the workshop gave a mixed signal hailing the possibility of an early Spring and the awaited breeding season. How often we are disappointed by anticipating the best thinking that our positive thinking changes the physical circumstance and don’t realise that going through a hardship is often the greater benefit. Now going through a hardship with a positive attitude is a different thing altogether. Perseverance is critical to the growth of any artisan pursuing his and her discipline as we have seen in the earlier blog posted three days ago. Should we refuse to go through the difficulty we remain unchanged.
As a craftsman I find myself constantly paining my hands, arms and upper body for the betterment of my work. I am in generally unconscious of it. I don’t think of it or dwell on it but that’s a necessary part of striving for excellence. I think my best work has always cost me. When a younger but competent craftsman called me once and said it’s so impossible to complete this work on time I asked him if he would just do what he committed to and nothing more. There were eight men and apprentices working on the furniture pieces. We finished the work and delivered two days before schedule.
Commitment is key to completion. Risk is key to stepping beyond constraints from time to time; beyond even the limits of safety and security. It’s only when you see how fragile something is that you really value what you have been given. That’s true in relationships of every kind. The tools we use, even a piece of wood or some such thing.
