All Work and No Play?

Being a finish carpenter, you quickly realize that many people have a fascination with woodworking.  It’s a fun answer (especially for a girl) to the cocktail party get-to-know-you-in-a-sentence question, “so what do you do?”  Your new friend replies excitedly, “Really?  A carpenter?  That must be fun!”  To which I usually reply, “Yes.  It is.”  But I always feel that I’m somehow misleading them.  I’m pretty sure this person imagines an entirely different version of my day-to-day lifestyle than what I actually experience. 

Perhaps they are imagining a dusty cramped workshop, all littered with sawdust, hand planes and chisels.  Sunbeams shoot through the old leaded glass windows (it’s always sunny in the mind’s eye, isn’t it?).  A table, half built, sits in the corner, its final leg being carved carefully on a lathe.  A small jewelry box is nearly finished -- all that’s left to do is the sanding, waxing and attaching the tiny brass hinges and clasp.  That’s the workshop daydream, trumping all other potential daydreams in my experience.  If someone is fascinated by woodworking, 9 times out of 10, this “Gepetto scene” (as a former colleague aptly referred to it) is their secret fantasy.  Come to think of it, that colleauge looked an awful lot like Gepetto himself...

This is our real workshop, with enough space to park my van inside after hours.

The jobsite daydream, for those who aim a little closer to reality, may be a bit hazier.  The details aren’t filled in.  Who knows where you keep your chisels?  At best, maybe a rustic old wooden toolbox, folded in a leather sleeve. Who knows what this house looks like that you may be working on?  Is it a Craftsmen or maybe even a Victorian?  One thing is for sure -- you are crafting a home with your mad skills and you must be the happiest most fulfilled person on the entire planet!

Honestly, these are the typical reactions I’m used to, and I can’t blame anyone for feeling this way.  These are the dreams that my reality is based on.  If it weren’t for the romance and the intrigue of crafting something with the skill of your hands, standing back to admire it and seeing it finally in its finished state, there would be no love here and I would be doing something else with my time.

So it all kind of begs the question -- is this really still fun for me, in the way I originally intended for it to be?  The simple answer is “yes”.  I am fulfilled by my work.  I love what I do and I literally crave learning more (so much that I actually let out squeals of delight when someone shows me a particularly clever trick).  The more complicated answer, though, is “sometimes”.  Let’s face it: not every job can be the crème de la crème, where a healthy budget meets a beautiful design concept meets gorgeous materials meets my own two hands.  Sometimes, someone just needs you to fix their rotten threshold….for as little money as possible, by the way.  Also, even my most favorite jobs (the ones that leave me with a huge perma-grin and a spring in my step) -- even those jobs can’t capture my interest beyond the 40 hour work-week (okay, let's face it.  I’d probably be happier with only 32 hours).  There’s just nothing on this planet that has so far captured my interest in that way.  I think it’s a big key to my personality.  I love balance in my life -- between work, hobby, home, family, friends, dogs, etc. 

Les and I did have fun building this maple and walnut cutting board as a wedding gift.

So, what’s fun for me about woodworking?  Why do I stick with it?  I love the craft.  I love learning about wood and techniques.  I love using all my cool tools and learning to use new ones.  I love putting more beauty into the world.  I love putting myself into my projects.  I love seeing some of the most beautiful architectural details I could imagine come to light.  I love the camaraderie and the history of the trade.  I love the challenges and troubleshooting that each job requires.  I love the feeling that I get when I have made someone’s day just by doing my job.  I love making little blocks for my adorable nephew’s birthday or gifting a homemade cutting board as a wedding present. These are the elements of my work that make it all worthwhile, despite the fact that it's only "sometimes" fun.  All this love is what drives me to continue on this path.

It's particularly gratifying to see my nephew Kegen enjoy playing with those blocks!