HarveyWildes
Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2016
- Messages
- 984
The "What is your day job or business" thread made me think of the following from [font=open sans, arial, helvetica neue, tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Christmas Carol:[/font]
"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob" faltered Scrooge...
"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing his hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
So how does woodworking line up with the "comprehensive ocean of our business"? I'm looking for concrete examples. Some of mine are:
- My main "philosophy" of woodworking is that I get to show off the beauty that is in the wood. I'm not great at creating beauty from scratch in the way that great artists or sculptors or writers can, but I can take a piece of wood and show people what is there.
- Mentoring - I've never taught woodworking professionally, but I have mentored people from my granddaughter to a couple of Ecuadoran concrete workers that wanted to do something different to an Air Force cadet.
- Making stuff for third world schools. I've taken several two week trips over the years. (The prep time far exceeded the two weeks of travel.)
- Making toys - simple ones like kaleidoscopes and tops can still capture the imagination.
- Supporting local woodworking shows by taking the time to enter pieces. (Are you showing off or trying to inspire? ...or both
)
In one sense, FOG is a way of spreading the love by sharing (for free) our experience with others. I know I've seen lots of other examples in the forum here and there, including support and encouragement for folks with health issues or life changes.
I guess if you were cynical you could view this as a "let's pat ourselves on the back" kind of thread, but I'm thinking that if one person posts an idea that inspires someone else, it's worth it.
"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob" faltered Scrooge...
"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing his hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
So how does woodworking line up with the "comprehensive ocean of our business"? I'm looking for concrete examples. Some of mine are:
- My main "philosophy" of woodworking is that I get to show off the beauty that is in the wood. I'm not great at creating beauty from scratch in the way that great artists or sculptors or writers can, but I can take a piece of wood and show people what is there.
- Mentoring - I've never taught woodworking professionally, but I have mentored people from my granddaughter to a couple of Ecuadoran concrete workers that wanted to do something different to an Air Force cadet.
- Making stuff for third world schools. I've taken several two week trips over the years. (The prep time far exceeded the two weeks of travel.)
- Making toys - simple ones like kaleidoscopes and tops can still capture the imagination.
- Supporting local woodworking shows by taking the time to enter pieces. (Are you showing off or trying to inspire? ...or both
)In one sense, FOG is a way of spreading the love by sharing (for free) our experience with others. I know I've seen lots of other examples in the forum here and there, including support and encouragement for folks with health issues or life changes.
I guess if you were cynical you could view this as a "let's pat ourselves on the back" kind of thread, but I'm thinking that if one person posts an idea that inspires someone else, it's worth it.
