Something came to mind as a I was cutting blocks for kerfing yesterday. This activity isn't very rewarding. It's the kind of tedious thing that one would skip any other day. But I'm fixated in filling this jar with kerfing. Why? So I can skip making them for months.
It is vexing. I know. But there's so much repetitive work in any kind of craft, that it's easy to understand why many people refrain from them. Patience is not an easy skill to learn. It takes practices. There's tons of trial an error in it.
However, more than trying and failing, patience is a thing achieved by the acceptance of factors we cannot control. Imagine time passing by and frustration accumulating because a task wasn't as easy as you expected. Maybe there are other external factors hampering your progress like illumination and sound. Add to that if all of a sudden you get a cut. Even the smallest one on a finger can be so distracting.
Patience is a steep slope. Have you ever wondered how is it that fishers get their job done? I haven't seen the first one using a fishing pole around here. That's quite expensive! I'm talking about using a net or just a line and a hook. I've see boats come back the shite empty. I've also got the bait eaten off my hook because I waited too long.
When you fish, there are done many things that you need to feel. If you have a line between your fingers, you have to separate the motion of the sea currents from your pulse. They are present. But if you focus on them, you won't feel the bite. It isn't easy. But slowly learning how it's done is so rewarding.
As I was cutting my kerfing blocks today, I managed to fix some things in the jig I use. The blocks were too big. The stop on the jig was moving from its place as well. I couldn't have noticed this facts if my attention was on something like the change of illumination by the movement of the clouds. I also got a cut on a thumb because of a jumping saw. And after a cure, I needed to reset s lot of things.
But as I got a breather and looked upon the rest of the work ahead, filling the jar was an interesting challenge. Cutting is just the start of the deal. There's a lot of sanding involved in it. A second cut is needed to divide the blocks into wedges. And then more sanding. Each activity moved me closer to my goal. And each time I rushed, something happened. My nails got into the sandpaper. The wedges weren't cut in the direction of the grain, thus breaking the block. The wedges fell off the table.
When anything of the above happened, I took a deep breath and looked upon the goals I had already accomplished. Each time it happened, I was closer to my goal. And thus it hit me. Patience are those intervals of relative calm when our stormy thoughts become serene and we get to focus on the relevant thing. But as I was finishing with the wedges, I realized, the jar wouldn't be full. I kept going. That fish was already gone. And as child who behaves well at the end of playtime, I took everything from the table and put it back in its place.
Then, I gazed upon my jar and saw it just a little of the top and smiled. A days work and every single step was worth it. The goal wasn't reached, but lesson were learnt. Patience isn't easy, but it's gold!
And though it comes hard for all of us who can't wait to things to happen, once we get the ball rolling, it gets easier. The fish get caught on each try, quantities of kerfing get made in due time. All of a sudden, we realize taking out time for each thing we do isn't necessarily a bad habit. We enjoy life on our own pace.
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