Work is Worship

“Work is worship.”  Mahatma Ghandi

A dear of friend of mine who is helping me out in the shop brought this quote to my attention today and I can’t stop thinking about it. Labor for most of us is inevitable and necessary to survival. Coming from a long family lineage of organized labor I’ve always understood the value of work and the ethics behind it. The idea of work as a spiritual pursuit is relatively new to me but over the past few years it has become increasingly relevant. I have a very clear choice to either hate my job or alternatively try to bring something to it. These days I’m fortunate to both be doing something I’m good at and that I enjoy. Even when I have to do jobs that I have no real interest in doing (usually out of financial necessity) I try and find a connection outside myself that helps me appreciate beauty in the job—like the perfect corner of two 45 degree angles. Granted this much easier said than done but nobody said worship is easy.

An Education

My formal post secondary education is limited. I’ve attended a few colleges, taken classes at University extension programs, and I went to design school long enough to learn the fundamental ideas (and enough time to know I’d never be a draughtsman). At times my lack of a university degree has led to feelings of inadequacy. This usually occurred when surrounded by people at a party discussing their dissertations. What I have come to learn is people absorb information in different ways. I internalize knowledge best from first hand experience and a tactile approach to education. I am sensory motivated and if I can see, hear, and touch something I am more likely to understand and learn. Much of what I know has come from books I have read but reading about La Sagrada Familia and looking at photos of the Gaudi masterpiece is very different from getting vertigo climbing the narrow steps in one of its towers. I’ll take vertigo over a lecture hall any day.

Mortality, Health, and Nihilism

I was talking recently with a friend of mine about the desire to keep living. It’s only been in been in last few years that I’ve realized I might end up being around longer than I thought I would. My nihilistic attitudes towards existence have softened. I have not always taken the best care of my physical being. It’s endured undue abuse over the years and though progress is often slow in my world I’ve begun taking steps to amend this neglect. This is not so much a recognition of my mortality as an acknowledgement that I could very well live to be an old man and if that happens I would like to be relatively healthy. I have a long way to go on the road to optimum health but the momentum forward has begun.

Using toxic solvents? Put on a respirator!

Never Seem Surprised!

“Don’t ever let them know you’re surprised when things work out well.”

This was the good advice from my shopmate Mike when I sent him a photo of the veneered stringer with a message expressing my excitement that it was working out. Guess I’ve blown that now, but damn, it’s looking good!

Now I’ll go back to my cool demeanor

Dry fitting the treads

Pre veneer

Post Veneer

Waldorf Diaries--Studio circa 1976

The recording studio in the basement of the hotel is taking shape. Its white freshly plastered walls give it a distinctly 70's vibe--a grotto of groove. In keeping with this aesthetic I built some equipment shelves out of white melamine faced with vertical grain fir.

The shelving sections in the shop

Installed and ready for the weight of analogue

Waldorf Diaries--Owning Space

I’ve begun considering buying an apartment in Vancouver. This has been a slow process for me. It has taken me decades to reach the point where consideration is even a possibility. My nomadic and rather unconventional life up to this point does not lend itself easily to this sort of settling decision. I do live in a hotel and that says a lot about my concept of stability. Interestingly these months at the Waldorf are what have brought me closer to the idea of owning. I’ve realized how little space I need to be happy in my life. I certainly don’t need a house or even a one-bedroom condo. My dream home would be a 350-400 square foot empty space with excellent light and high ceilings. A blank canvas that I could build on. My second realization is that I might actually like Vancouver. Despite its struggles trying transform into an international city of cultural worth I can see that it’s trying. I feel like I should be a part of that. It doesn’t seem like I’m going anywhere else.

This isn’t going to happen overnight. I like my hotel room and I need time to internalize this shift in my thinking. I’ll know when I see it. That much I’m certain of.

STOP

When my alarm went off this morning the first thing I noticed was the traffic passing on East Hastings St. sounded different. It wasn't raining. The sky was lighter and possibly even clear. In this realization I experienced a sudden elevation. A feeling of renewal and peace. I turned off my alarm and made the decision to take my first day off in weeks. Then I went back to sleep for an hour.

It's hard for me to take days off. My obsessive nature is a force that allows me to produce but its inertia holds the potential to wear me out and eventually diminish the quality of my work. I'm getting better at knowing when to stop and regroup--knowing when to turn off the alarm in the dark and take a day to be quiet and rest.

When I opened my eyes again the warmth of a forgotten sun striped across my bed in bands of reassuring light letting me know I had made the right decision.