Let’s start with sharing that I am not a perfectionist. Never have been nor ever will. What I do enjoy is working on projects that have depth and impact. Either professionally or personally. Where there are multiple paths to choose from and where outcomes are directional rather than final. For I find most things in life continue to evolve far past my interaction with them.
Technology has diminished our appreciation for craftsmanship. The imagery of a carpenter cutting the trim before placing it on a cabinet. The seamstress adding sequence, piece by piece, to a new creation. The handyman who bends electrical conduit to fit along the wall in your basement for new outlets. Clicking on an icon, causing things to magically appear on our screen, has deadened our senses when it comes to recognizing craftsmanship.
We have become a world full of opinions. Short attention spans. Snapshots seen that become our world. Like the cotton from dandelions that have been allowed to grow, scattered gracefully about by the wind. Our fragmented mind does not find deep thought comforting, necessary or possible at times. We are just too busy.
My experience has taught me something very different. That everything of value takes both time and interest. Far more than first thought. To research, explore, and discover. To sharpen our intuition by digging deep to find both boundaries and obstacles that will reveal themselves whether we first discover them or not. Understanding, that while not always being right, that risk can be seen in every option that one can choose. Making risk a friend, not to be feared but managed.
Interest is what fools us. Interest is what provides us with focus. The validation of our interest is communicated through the time we invest in a project. Many say that they are interested. But few put the time in to demonstrate this. Without investing time to do the work, interest merely drifts into opinion. Where opinions embrace chance as if chance were certain. How can you thoughtfully choose an option when not having focus yet proclaim you have interest?
With little focus, risks are ignored. Possibilities and options never appear. Leading to results, many times, that are either average or disappointing. The story we tell ourselves is that “that’s life” and then move on. Waking up again the next day, clinging to our same opinions while hoping for different results when trying again.
The foundation of craftsmanship is built with people who invest a lot of time in projects they are interested in. The evidence is always in the thoughtful work they put out into the world. It’s solid and good. Where a person’s vision becomes real. Making their destination, the one that was intended.
Deep thought demands both an investment of time fueled by a passion of interest. The result is a laser-like focus with a huge time commitment providing its intensity. Magically, each narrow road begins to expand into a horizon. Revealing possibilities never imagined and destinations not thought to be achievable.
Giving each of us the hope of craftsmanship, through deep thought, as we begin to integrate it into our own daily lives.