Envy

True to my word, I write this after having looked at RJ’s workshop. If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s purdy! It’s also easy to see how I came up with the topic.

There’s a healthy mixture in lumberjocks from what I can tell; hobbiests, professionals, and professional hobbiests. The income range is nicely mixed as well (from hand-crafters to minimal power tools to seemingly gluttonous overloads ;-)), so that we all get a chance to see what someone else can do with a handsaw, a couple of planes, some sandpaper, finish and … oh yeah, wood.

I’m absolutely certain that I’m not the only one that turns green from time to time; mostly when looking at other people’s projects (any time I feel like I’m REALLY getting somewhere with my woodworking, I go take a look at the chess-table (http://lumberjocks.com/projects/8919) to remember where I’m at. It’s a lesson in humility, much like looking at so many projects that pass across the board.

Now one of the things we’re taught is that envy is bad, but I think that a very little bit of it is good (sort of like tabasco in tuna, but that’s another post). If I can look at a thing, admire it, and wish that I could build it, the chance is strong that, over time, and with practice, I can. I’ve seen several pieces that are actually making me desirous for a couple of hand-planing tools. Satisfaction wouldn’t do that. Desire does.

I look at the turnings, the cutting board designs, the workshops, and there’s some small part of me that wants all of those things, but there’s a larger part of me that has to be real and say either “wait”, or “it’s just a shiny”. I envy those of you who “seem” to put these things together in seconds (Yeah, I read where you say it took hundreds of hours, but it’s sort of like Norm and David Marks, all I see is the Reader’s Digest condensed version, and that didn’t seem to take very long at all ;-), even though the rational part of me realizes that these things took time, mistakes, and sometimes irritation to get it all right.

I’m also very glad that I found a board like this, where I can look at the results of others practicing their craft, and hope to continue my execution of this hobby of ours.

Thank you all.

-- Making scrap with zen-like precision - Woodbutchery