I am a simple man. I would say simpleton sometimes too. Because I know how problems continue to pop up in the shop. They are always the same. It is always me causing them. My mistake in set-up or not paying attention to a mark made or choosing the wrong side for a cut. Yet I react as if this is the first time it has ever occurred.
These mistakes are always the same types, done over and over. When made, they fill the room. I work in a large room. It is the response to these mishaps that is probably so amusing, from a remove. To watch this raving maniac talking to himself about the latest misplacement of a tool or a cut too small or tear-out coming in an obvious spot because I didn’t slow myself down. Then the blame dance begins as I rail on about my lunacy, the cursed passage of my lineage down to me, and the small stature of my brain.
But, with practice, and enough repetitions, I am able finally to effect some small change in my attitude towards these missteps. If I can tear myself away from staring at my latest bit of self-sabotage, if I can get myself away from the scene of the crime, if I can walk myself outside and stomp around the block just once, by the time I return to my bench the problem has shrunk in size. It has returned to its normal stature and I can see more clearly now how to fix it. It generally takes very little to fix it as well.
So that is my goal now. When the latest problem that I have caused shows itself, I leave it behind, walk out of the area, and come back to it with fresh and now clear eyes to figure out to move past it. Forgiveness and just a little bit of time will do the trick.
Shavings 