The 'Stuff' that get's in the way.

Wow! Well said. Hits home on a lot of levels.

Here’s what I’ve found: (1) always finish projects no matter how long they take otherwise inertia builds up and prevents the finishing of any projects, (2) what your attention is on you are feeding your energy into and will manifest in your experience, (3) only your heart knows what you are supposed to be doing – not your brain cells, and not your feelings, (4) if the feelings are riled up, the brain cells cannot work accurately.

Much success!

-- Rich, Seattle, WA

Sorry to hear of the lose of a friend and an opportunity to bring his music to life. However, the past is the past, let it be a life lesson. It is time to move forward and “start cleaning out that garage”.

Good luck.

-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!

Very well said. I have a lot of stuff in my way. Sad.

-- Mother Nature created it, I just assemble it. - It's not ability that we often lack, but the patience to use our ability

Rich, you said it just as well with fewer words. Thank you for that!

Randy, how true it is. I know that he and I will play that tune together one day. In the meantime, there is always something incredible around the corner. If your eyes are closed by grief and loss, you just might miss. Ther is a time for everything.

Monte my friend, I respectfully disagree with part of your statement. It’s the word sad. I see recognition of our stuff as a victory. You can’t clear out the stuff if you can’t see it. You know I’m not saying anything you didn’t already know. I’m just reminding that discovery can be painful but it’s always a good thing if you can keep from letting it defeat you.

I really appreciate you gentlemen taking the time to read my brain dump. Sometimes it’s real important just to type it out. I’m not going to call anyone out for their humanity. But sometimes I think we humans can be pretty tough on ourselves and others. Maybe what I post will make a tiny difference to someone. I know it helps me to see myself a little more clearly.

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!

Mark, my name is Mark also, and Sr. stands for senior. I am a newbee, (ie: woodworking) and that’s tough at age 65, but it’s something I always wanted to do.

I can remember long ago, my mother told me, her mother, my grandmother really wanted her to name me Mark, (The Lion) she said to my mother. So my grandmother got her wish.

I read all of what you wrote, with your heart and soul open, mind in question and your future acts untold.

I don’t have the answers for taking care of my stuff let alone tell you how to handle yours, but if we go back in time to an old wonderful lady, my grandmother, let the lion come out.

Become the lion and King of your garage and conquer all that stuff and in time you will be sweeping the painted floor of the garage.

On the other hand, you can do what I did. I had a new 10’ x 20’ building put in the back of the house, left all the old stuff in the garage and I am now going to work on starting my new STUFF. (no more lion in me).

Good luck with whichever path you choose, but always keep that heart and soul open, there are a lot of us who listen.

-- Mark, ”...NEWBEE: On the road to learning a lot; but; a lot more to learn…” ("My Granddad used to tell me, if you didn't learn something new today, it just wasn't worth getting out of bed")

MARCOS QUERIDO:
UN PROVERBIO VASCO DICE: “SI TIENES MUCHO TRABAJO, PUES PONTE A HACERLO”
Y LO QUE ESCRIBES TIENE DE LOS DOS COMPONENTES: HACER Y PENSAR ;-)
EN MI HUMILDE OPINIÓN, SE BALANCEA EN UN 50-50, EL HACER Y EL PENSAR EN LO QUE HICIMOS :-)
NO ENTIENDO MUY BIEN CUÁL ES TU PLANTEO, PERO ME IMAGINO QUE DUDAS…
TITUBEAS EN TOMAR ÉSTE O AQUEL CAMINO, Y ÉSTO, SI BIEN ES MUY HUMANO, ES UNA TRAMPA
QUE SUELE HACERTE TU EGO ;-)
YA HAS VISTO MI TRABAJO Y TE CUENTO QUE LUCHO POR UN EQUILIBRIO ENTRE MI CUERPO, MI MENTE Y MI ALMA, Y
LOS TENGO BIEN INDIVIDUALIZADOS Y TRATO DE CONTROLARLOS: ÉSTO ME LLEVÓ 50 AÑOS JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA
ASÍ QUE SI TENGO QUE TIRARTE UNA PALABRA DE ÁNIMO TE DIRÉ QUE TRANSPIRES TU CAMISETA, QUE TE PONGAS A TRABAJAR SIN DUDAR Y LUEGO DE UN LARGO DÍA DE TRABAJO, YA CANSADO, PIENSES EN LO QUE HAS HECHO: RECUERDA QUE LOS SACERDOTES LAMAS, PRIMERO CANSAN A SUS ALUMNOS PARA QUE LUEGO, AL RECIBIR SUS ENSEÑANZAS DIARIAS, NO TENGAN MUCHA ENERGÍA PARA HACER OPOSICIÓN ;-)
SUERTE AMIGO ;-)

-- KOVA, EL CARPINTERO DEL PUEBLO https://www.facebook.com/pages/El-Carpintero-Del-Pueblo/148976618479733

I read your post twice.

I think you have much more on your plate than cleaning the garage, l hope I am wrong and it’s only the garage. In that case it’s easy. Buy the table saw and and the tools first; I am sure the garage will get cleaned before they get delivered to your house.

Incidentally this afternoon I was at a friend house who is starting woodworking and his garage is really full. After about a year of waiting he just jumped into it and ordered his tablesaw, DC, planer and so on.
The whole week he has been cleaning on his spare time and today I saw 2/3 of the garage empty ready for the tools.
An electrician will be installing several electrical outlets for him monday. we went over were he will be installing his tools.
I am very sure I will be helping next weekend to assemble the tablesaw and he will be making dust.

just jump in the pool and clean that garage. I think you need a break though.

My friends, Thank you so much for the kind words.

Mark,
It’s really good to meet you. I never heard about Mark the Lion. I really like that. I have ben considering a shed at least to store things. My neighborhood association won’t let me have one. I can maybe get a storage unit but I think I’m vulnerable to the out of sight, out of mind thinking.

Kova,
Mi amigo. Tengo que hacer el repuesto en Engles porque ya sabes que mi Espanol le falta mucho.

Those are awesome words. I totally agree with you. The trials we endure in life can break us. It is from that point of brokeness that we can rebuild into something magnificent. The key component of the rebuild is hope. I have lot’s of hope.

Lanwater,
Your intuition is correct. There are lot’s of things going on in my life. Would it surprise you to know that it’ all wonderful?

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!

Guys,

You may have guessed that the post was not necessarily about me or my garage. It was about us as humans. None the less. I have something for your halloween pleasure.

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!

Progress report. The big brownish couch is in the process of being reupholstered.

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!

Great post Mark, and it comes with a bit of motivation that I desperately need. I’m embarrassed to post pics of my shop, which is why there rarely are any. I am in the same boat as far as JUNK. When we bought this house, the previous owners were hoarders (like you see on TV). The garage is still packed to the rafters with junk. I could easily fill a 50 yard dumpster and then some. I have it all pushed up against the walls (floor to ceiling, about 2 feet deep). I have about 50% of my total space usable. I needed garage space desperately to finish a home renovation project, so I cleared out an area with plans to really clean it later. That turned into a woodworking hobby, in which I did more adding to the clutter than removal of the clutter. I hope to have it cleaned out before the snow comes so I can have a nice, usable space.

In regard to other obstacles, I’m not kidding myself. I do not posses the natural ability to be an expert craftsman. The best I can hope for is to master the basic mechanics and churn out “acceptable” projects. Nothing I make will be an heirloom. I really envy people like Paul M (shipwright). I would love to create projects of that caliber, but as I mentioned, I do not have the natural ability. But I am OK with that.

With that said, aside from family, there isn’t much in this world that brings me the amount of enjoyment woodworking does. I’ll continue hacking away and secure my place on the throne of mediocrity – with a huge smile of satisfaction :)

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

Nice cannondale. You should treat it better then that, or upgrade, I remember those paint colors from the early 90s. I do see your point though, I’ve got a project I’ve been putting off, everything about it has gone too perfect and now I have to drill some holes and I’ve never been good at doing that, lining up, getting the right size and depth and I’m just not certain about getting it right so now it sits while I make cutting boards to get rid of the scrap in my shop.

-- --Rev. Russ in NY-- A posse ad esse

Joe, I won’t say much my friend, except that I believe your desire to make art will carry you all the way. The other thing is that we are not the best judges of what is an heirloom. You are the man!

Russ, that poor cannon dale deserves a lot better treatment. I’ll set up a good spot for it. My son doesn’t give that much attention since he bought the schwin mountain bike. My wife has a half decent diamond back I bought her 19 years ago. It’s suffering from the same neglect.

By the way, I am just as nervous about drilling holes. A tiny wiggle or angle and the dowel just doesn’t look right. If you come up with a sure fire method, please let me know.

Now for the funny – yesterday, I got an old couch out of the garage. Today, a six foot soccer net filled the void. ;)

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!

Joe, I won’t say much my friend, except that I believe your desire to make art will carry you all the way. The other thing is that we are not the best judges of what is an heirloom. You are the man!

Russ, that poor cannon dale deserves a lot better treatment. I’ll set up a good spot for it. My son doesn’t give that much attention since he bought the schwin mountain bike. My wife has a half decent diamond back I bought her 19 years ago. It’s suffering from the same neglect.

By the way, I am just as nervous about drilling holes. A tiny wiggle or angle and the dowel just doesn’t look right. If you come up with a sure fire method, please let me know.

Now for the funny – yesterday, I got an old couch out of the garage. Today, a six foot soccer net filled the void. ;)

-- Learning is like a door. Open it and there are hundreds more on the other side. Thanks for all the lessons!