Excellence is not exciting.
Skill, craftmanship, art, genius; it all looks exciting presented in a favorable light. The work is rarely. Blood, sweat and tears. You pour yourself into the act. Squeeze out every iota of attention, experience, imagination, inspiration = EXPRESS. Yet…, suppress the ego; it is not about who I am but more about what is and what can be.
No…, that’s not quite right…..
Replies
Sounds like a commercial for cheap light beer.
Ok. I'll look into a new career. How many truckloads you in for?
lee,
You say that like you think making a good cheap light beer is easy. Why has no one done it yet then, hmm? haha
Ray
Ray,
Now why would anyone bother making a good light beer when there are already 6 or 8 exceptional small batch bourbons floating around out there? he he
Lee
lee,
Mmmm, bourbon. Your point is well taken. My only anwer to your question falls along the lines of the answer to the question of why hit yourself repeatedly on the head with a hammer? Because when you stop ( with the light beer, and start with the bourbon) it feels so good.
Best,
Ray
Now why would anyone bother making a good light beer when there are already 6 or 8 exceptional small batch bourbons floating around out there?
The beer a bit less expensive? Not a beer drinker but a 'real' Belgium beer is good!
Habilis,
I'm new to woodworking but I know something about writing, also a solitary craft.
The genius, skill, craft, attention, imagination, and dedication are, to me, necessary components, likely not all, of what makes art, with a capital A.
I'm getting ready to read David Pye, and I'm told he has sharp focus on the woodworking aspect, but skills learned elsewhere do seem to translate, so far.
(Was that me sounding pompous?)
--Jon
Nah,that's my job man. Reading same. Let's share notes. Interesting; the lone response, besides you, on this thread was quite dismissive. Others find returning to age-old assumptions enlightening. Looking on.Jon, I read far more than most. Writing has always been intimidating. I chalk most of it up to reading letters and speeches of our founding fathers in grade school. Always been intimidated by the excellent prose. Always carried a fear that if I wrote it down it would last forever. Didn't get that that was the final draft, hand picked for my edification. Today such matters are senseless; once I put it on the web, somebody, somewhere can find it. What do you write?Pete
Edited 5/8/2009 1:37 am ET by habilis
Pete,
My education was in poetry. I always thought I wanted to write short stories, but it was like the few Engineering classes I completed; it didn't seem to matter what I wanted, the aptitude wasn't there. Anyway, MFA from Texas State University, 1995.
I just watched Tim Rousseau's video on making a cabinet here on FWW. Good writing is like that. It looks so simple, so easy, and yet, having tried to do it myself, I know it can be very difficult indeed. The beginner (me) gets it all muddled up and confused and complicated. The work of a master makes it look so elegant and clean.
You write good. A professor told me once, "Good writing is communication, not impression."
I believe it was she who also said, "Unclear writing is unclear thinking." You communicate well, and clearly. What more is there to say? These are necessary traits of a new beer truck driver.
--Jon
Aaahh kind words. Gottabe up in a few. We'll talk
Thanks, Night,
Pete
I completed; it didn't seem to matter what I wanted, the aptitude wasn't there.
And I went to Collage the same way... I passed but I really should have not..
The aptitude wasn't there.
I agree, I cannot carve anything no matter how many times I try!
pete,
don't mean to impress or be profound, both are a waste of time. however, these words came to memory when i read yours:
"life is being and becoming."
vivekananda
I like that.
Eef,
I could not agree more.
--Jonnieboy
I share your pain. The quest for a personal grasp for meaning of existence. But be encouraged that the ego ditching is a giant step and getting past ones imagined personal importance is a giant step. There is no perfect, but sometimes you can produce something inspirational to someone else. That's a good day.
Oldhand,
Not to fling quotes around, but Santideva, the Buddhist saint, said, "All misery in the world comes from self-cherishing; all happiness in the world comes from cherishing others."
All misery? All happiness?! Wow.
It takes a lot of letting go of ego to cherish others.
The thing about the first piece you delivered and liked so much, where the customer was less than enthusiastic, the quality will out.
I mean, it sits in their home, and they paid good money for it. I'm like that with furniture, and often anything of quality. When my eye is ready to see it, I see it. Until then, it's only looking. Paintings are that way for me as well. And music. Music especially.
--Jon
The thing about the first piece you delivered and liked so much, where the customer was less than enthusiastic, the quality will out.
Amen. Well put.
Well if you're going to throw quotes around; I believe it was Milarepa who said that when you reach perfection you can't remain in this plane of existence anymore.Maybe it was Nagarjuna, no, still think it was Milarepa.
Anyway looks like I'll be around for awhile, at least 'till that mundane thing called death catches up with me.
habilis,
Yes, yes. It's likely that I'll be cycling around awhile myself.
One thing, you gotta love it when Milarepa talks about planes.
--Jonnieboy
Funny thing is my brother's a pilot; when I mentioned someone giving me a plane he got all excited. Had to explain quick before he got too carried away with flaps etc.
habilis,
There's all that, and then some too, if you are building for a paying customer. Rarely does the customer see thru the same filter as the builder in my experience. Something is usually lost in the translation. That is not always a bad thing.
I've delivered a piece that I was especially happy with, liked the proportions, the character of the wood was particularly good, captured the look of the original, whatever. The customer is... less than effusive. "Very nice. Put it over there." What's up with that? Oh well. It filled its purpose which was, after all me geting paid.
And, just the other day, I delivered a job that I was less than delighted with. Not that it was shoddy, just not what I would have had it turn out to be. The color wasn't unsatisfactory, after several tries, it was close enough to what it was supposed to match. The choice of wood was less than perfect, my supplier was overdue for a replenishment of stock and what was there was picked over. Barely made thickness to match the old work it was supposed to match. It was the best I could do, so I delivered the job with just a little trepidation. What if the client picked out the same flaws in the stock that I had tried to dodge? What if the light in their home exploited the slight difference in the color?
They were, in a word, delighted with the job. Praise for my work that made me just a little embarrassed. What the...?
You said , "more about what is..."
Depends on what the definition of "is", is, and who is doing the defining.
Ray
I think I understood what you said!
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