Good morning. The shop is Open; I have a fire going and the coffee's fresh-ground and hot, grab a cup and a chair and join in for discussion of home repair and improvement.
Why do we talk about leaky faucets on a political blogsite? Because even the most committed activist finds it hard to save the world while the toilet is stopped up or that faucet drips on through the night. Why fix it yourself, if you can? Because you can, and in so doing you empower yourself, and what is politics if not the quest for empowerment, both personal and collective?
All we do here on Saturday mornings is gather around and shoot the shit about our own projects and emergencies and offer up advice and encouragement for Kossaks who suddenly find theirselves in need of our services. Our ad hoc cadre of construction professionals and gifted amateurs has an amazingly broad scope of experience and insight to draw on, and we might just be able to help you save some bucks and gain some self-regard.
"If it's not worth doing for love, it's not worth doing"
I was reminded of this old digger aphorism this week while working on our little guest house/meditation space I'm finishing off in the attic of our little chicken house.
That's the chickenhouse behind the shop (this photo is really old) and the room is up where that dormer window shows. It's a tiny space, about 85 sq ft, and this week I finally got it all sealed up and tight, with a heater and lights, ready for the finish skin of drywall, plaster and a fine wood floor. Just about everything in it is either salvaged or we made it ourselves, including the adobe bricks the shop and chickenhouse are made from.
So what's love got to do with it?
Well it's worth doing (to me) just for the love of doing it. When I bring love to a piece of work, I am bringing the best of myself, my soul and spirit engaged and happy, at peace in and in harmony with existence. Doing it because there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.
I don't think there's any better a way to engage with work: doing my work. THE essential dynamic. To be paid for doing it is merely gravy, an external validation secondary to my own pleasure and validation in being fully engaged in what I'm doing.
I've tried to live my life on this basis, and my best has always come from my heart. And yeah, sometimes it's just a fucking job and I have to push myself through it, because I'm a pro, and I said I would. But I know where the real juice comes from.
So, what are you working on?