This! And this is why I twitch every time I finish a project and someone says “wow, you’re so talented.” I’m not talented! I just try to do things they don’t try to do, and when I screw it up I keep trying. “Talent” misses the months of mistakes along the way. I wish they’d say, “wow, you’re so persistent.” That’d be true.
May twelve angels guard you while you sleep. Maybe that’s a waste of angels. But the hope you offer in this is a balm to all of us lying at the bottom of the stairs.
It just goes to show ya Chis you are human being. To be human is to have error 😕. Like the song says "if your feeling you're oats, don't forget the raisin s. Raisin is the humble pie of life. Just like my toxic corporate job. 2 more years and I can quit. In the mean time l just watch the total cost of raisins. Yes I have to take a few walks 🚶♀️ too. Failure attempts at first bring me stronger results in my woodworking. Figuring it out is what makes you better. Dose this make me a fraud? If so I will keep the raisins very close.
I read a great passage the other day, that explained how confident the ignorant folks are, because they don’t know enough to understand just how little they know.
Truly experienced and/ or talented folks, on the other hand, have been swimming in the deep water for so long, that they develop
Impostor syndrome. Because they have some awareness of the scope of everything they don’t know, in comparison to what they do know, even after years of dedicated study, they feel like frauds. And they massively underestimate just how qualified they are.
I dig this. Curtis’ democratic chair videos on YouTube are great. This article brings to mind Jogge Sundqvist’s description of sloyd in the book which has stuck with me. It’s that sloyd literally means crafty, however a craftsperson always says about themselves “I am not uncrafty.” Self-imposed humility. The Amish have a superstition about being too prideful to the point that if someone is acting overconfident others around him will take him or her down a few notches by picking and making fun until they feel a bit less confidant. Not really a healthy cultural characteristic. I like Jogge’s thing better. Others should not pile on a person’s self deprecating humor. I have noticed that when I am feeling super awesome at something, those are the times I might make a mistake but that probably comes from getting careless rather than some supernatural force taking me down.
This past fall, I messed up a simple bit of drilling at the end of a couple hundred hours of work on a very fancy chair. I was elated to be winding it up and then a tiny, dumb fuck-up sent me into tailspin and a depression that took weeks to climb out of. It taught me that as well as being careful about my fingers, eyes and lungs - I have to guard against psychological injury…and like Churchill used to say, “keep buggering on”.
From beginner to professional, we will never be happy with the project we’re working on.
While everyone is saying how beautiful (insert item here) is, we look at and say that could be better, that should have been done differently and so on.
I guess for most of us it’s from comparing hand work to cookie cutter machine made furniture and photo shopped pictures.
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
― William Shakespeare, As You Like It
This! And this is why I twitch every time I finish a project and someone says “wow, you’re so talented.” I’m not talented! I just try to do things they don’t try to do, and when I screw it up I keep trying. “Talent” misses the months of mistakes along the way. I wish they’d say, “wow, you’re so persistent.” That’d be true.
May twelve angels guard you while you sleep. Maybe that’s a waste of angels. But the hope you offer in this is a balm to all of us lying at the bottom of the stairs.
Thank you.
It just goes to show ya Chis you are human being. To be human is to have error 😕. Like the song says "if your feeling you're oats, don't forget the raisin s. Raisin is the humble pie of life. Just like my toxic corporate job. 2 more years and I can quit. In the mean time l just watch the total cost of raisins. Yes I have to take a few walks 🚶♀️ too. Failure attempts at first bring me stronger results in my woodworking. Figuring it out is what makes you better. Dose this make me a fraud? If so I will keep the raisins very close.
Me too.
I read a great passage the other day, that explained how confident the ignorant folks are, because they don’t know enough to understand just how little they know.
Truly experienced and/ or talented folks, on the other hand, have been swimming in the deep water for so long, that they develop
Impostor syndrome. Because they have some awareness of the scope of everything they don’t know, in comparison to what they do know, even after years of dedicated study, they feel like frauds. And they massively underestimate just how qualified they are.
🤣🤌
I'm only a charlatan pretending to be a fraud.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&q=chumbawamba+i+get+knocked+down&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLUz9U3MDTKMsxR4tVP1zc0zEjLKMtLic_REvQtLc5MdiwqySwuCckPzs9LX8Qql5xRmpuUWJ4IJBQyFdJTSxSy8_KTs1NTFFLyy_MAyd-hHlAAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjoiKaU4cL9AhVHLzQIHVdkDHUQri56BAgkEAc&biw=390&bih=780&dpr=3
I dig this. Curtis’ democratic chair videos on YouTube are great. This article brings to mind Jogge Sundqvist’s description of sloyd in the book which has stuck with me. It’s that sloyd literally means crafty, however a craftsperson always says about themselves “I am not uncrafty.” Self-imposed humility. The Amish have a superstition about being too prideful to the point that if someone is acting overconfident others around him will take him or her down a few notches by picking and making fun until they feel a bit less confidant. Not really a healthy cultural characteristic. I like Jogge’s thing better. Others should not pile on a person’s self deprecating humor. I have noticed that when I am feeling super awesome at something, those are the times I might make a mistake but that probably comes from getting careless rather than some supernatural force taking me down.
_Definitely_ stealing that quote. I'll try to remember to give attribution.
This past fall, I messed up a simple bit of drilling at the end of a couple hundred hours of work on a very fancy chair. I was elated to be winding it up and then a tiny, dumb fuck-up sent me into tailspin and a depression that took weeks to climb out of. It taught me that as well as being careful about my fingers, eyes and lungs - I have to guard against psychological injury…and like Churchill used to say, “keep buggering on”.
Just checked them and they work for me:
https://www.curtisbuchananchairmaker.com/free-instructional-videos.html
https://lostartpress.com/collections/books/products/chairmakers-notebook
Could just be me but your two Curtis Buchanan links are broken
From beginner to professional, we will never be happy with the project we’re working on.
While everyone is saying how beautiful (insert item here) is, we look at and say that could be better, that should have been done differently and so on.
I guess for most of us it’s from comparing hand work to cookie cutter machine made furniture and photo shopped pictures.
Reminds me of an old Babe Ruth quote.
“ Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”
Cheers, Michael