Wednesday, June 21, 2017

My name is Master Jack. Specialties: None

I want very badly to be one of those cranky old craftspeople who are so good at what they do that doing it wrong, or doing it half-assed is insulting to them. I so admire those salty dogs who do everything so correctly, and somehow have the perfect, highest quality tool with which to do it.

My personality is just not there. It never has been. Maybe that salty woodworker takes time to season. Somehow it's earned. Learned. Something. Maybe it is my lot in life to be decent at a lot of things, but truly excellent and nothing. I'm good with that. I am. I like being a jack of all trades, master of none.But someday I would love to be in a position--and to be motivated enough--to study and learn and work at perfecting just one trade. The sad state of my brain is that I'm too interested in so many different things. I don't think it's the ADD that drives me to spread myself too thin, but a sincere interest in all these different things.

I'm ten years away from being as old as my Grandfather was when I formed my lasting memories of how amazing he was at his job and his woodworking. The shop I've assembled in my studio would likely bring him to tears with pride, but I can't come nearly close enough to filling it with the amount of skill he had when he was my age. I've got years to go.

The moral of the story is that you should never stop trying to get better at the things you enjoy doing. After that, you need to teach the next generation and show them what quality work looks like, and what pride in that work looks like. And that they too should never be satisfied with their level of skill.

Shoot. I just wrote a blog again. I should post this somewhere and keep writing more to it, and craft it, and edit it. . . Stay tuned for edits.


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