Monday, October 15, 2012

Life, Love, Learning

When a task is difficult, we often want to run from it. But often the difficulty is a way of sending us a signal that we should persist and see it through to the end, whatever that may be. The irony is we never know if a task is worthwhile until we have completed it. Then the results may seem to tell us it was not worth it, or was a waste of time. But then we are wrong still a second time, for it is not about the task at all, but about who we are while we complete it. When we do the work before us, no matter the nature of it, no matter the outcome, with love, the outcome can never be 'bad' in any meaningful sense. Our state of mind and heart while we work or even perform a routine task determine it's value, whether we are paid two million dollars, twenty five cents, or nothing, is not the point.

For me, the man who mostly taught me this did it without teaching. He just lived. His life was the lesson. He enjoyed talking and having a laugh but he never used talking to teach. He just lived. He was my dad. He used to love to make things out of wood, he was a skilled carpenter, and, though he worked as a flame cutter for his living, he made beautiful things with wood. Chairs, tables, benches, lattice work. I used to cut patterns for him, and sometimes I would just watch him work. He would touch the wood softly like caressing the wings of a butterfly. He spent hours in his shop. His eyes were soft and caring while he worked. He always placed the wood on the bench, never throwing or tossing the wood, even the scraps were gently placed in the bin or often re-used.

Then, when he was finished, he gave the things he made away. Many times people tried to pay for his work, but he refused the money. He made some of the most beautiful things ever seen and gave them all away. And while he worked, he taught his son, me, not how to work, because I am a lousy carpenter, to be quite frank. He taught me something else entirely. I watched him work, and I learned how to live. I learned how to love....

2 comments:

  1. The irony is we never know if a task is worthwhile until we have completed it. Then the results may seem to tell us it was not worth it, or was a waste of time. But then we are wrong flame cut outs still a second time, for it is not about the task at all, but about who we are while we complete it.

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  2. Good for Easy to understanding "Life, Love, Learning"

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