Discussions: Paul Sellers, Part Three
Last week, Paul Sellers commented on whether or not there is still a demand for highly-crafted furniture items. He explained why he thinks there will always be a market for quality, custom-built furniture. According to Paul, people want furniture made with “… real wood and a quality that bespeaks the integrity of the men (who) make it.”
For some reason, a lot of woodworkers are only interested in completing a project as quickly as they possibly can. I know I was that way at one time. Then I’d jump right into the next project without taking any time to enjoy what I was doing.
But since then I’ve taken some classes and gotten a lot more comfortable using hand tools. Now I like to slow down the process and enjoy the simple act of cutting a chamfer with a hand plane or sawing a taper on a table leg with a rip saw. I asked Paul about his feelings on this subject.
Joel: What is more important for the home hobbyist/woodworker — experiencing the journey or reaching the destination?
Paul: The question presupposes an either/or answer, when in reality one is as important as the other. You see, work in and of itself should be as enjoyable and rewarding an aspect of life as anything else we do, especially as it takes such a large segment of it.
When you feel that your work is essential to your life, there is a heightened sense of consciousness that undergirds the whole of your endeavor to establish true and substantive skill, regardless of whether you are an amateur or a professional.
Regardless of whether your work supports your family with finances or you build things for the needs of your family and friends, the actual doing of the work should always have a sense of rest in that even though you look forward to a project’s completion there is also the sense that you don’t want to, in any way, short-circuit the journey and lose the sense of fulfillment in each of the steps that bring completion.
In years past, woodworkers worked with wood because it was essential in support of their daily life and so it gave meaning and fulfillment to them. Modern definitions of words like hobby, pastime, amateur, and novice, may convey negative connotations when the probability is that these terms are the result of an innate desire to experience meaning through our work. Our culture has in many ways dumbed things down to make trivial what was once acceptably noble.
I know many highly skilled amateurs who make the most exquisite furniture, musical instruments, and so on, yet they are considered amateurs because they didn’t have some type of official training or certification, or they don’t do it for a living.
They do it for the joy of participating in the craft. For me the issue is a unique blending of all aspects of my life’s call to be a craftsman. It seems increasingly difficult to find people who experience true contentment in their work. Those I have found mainly work quietly with their hands and see work as a privilege.
Garry Smith said,
This hit the nail on the head.
I think that over time woodworkers do smell the roses.
I remember when I could not wait to finish a project. At times I went on to other projects without finishing the previous.
These days it is hard for me to have more than one project going because I am more involved in the work than completing the project.
I usually only take on the more challenging work for this reason.
(posted on August 2nd, 2006 at 10:46 am)