bowing down before the alter of process

in love with being and becoming

My thumbs are still in tact. I’ve had some close calls, but so far, I’m still a ten digit man. Considering my hobbies, I consider myself lucky.

I love whittling. I love hacking away at wood. I love watching how the things I hold in my hand are transformed by a process of cutting away with razor sharp steel. Ahh… steel. Next to whittling, I love sharpening knives, grinding axes and filing an edge onto a garden tool.

With each pass of the file, the stone or the blade on the strop, my breath deepens. I relax. Best of all? Things get a better edge.

What’s more dangerous than a really sharp knife? A dull one. Working with well honed blades allows the edges of my tools to do the work, not my muscles. Things are cut more precisely. I don’t strain and slip. I’m less likely to stab myself. Less likely.

Most of my carvings have a little bit of blood on them somewhere.

A sharp knife is a delight. Pulling my blades along a green piece wood from my nice neighbours former pair tree is paradise. The sounds, smells and sights of the wood curling up and ultimately releasing sinks and softens me.

When I’m carving, I never set out knowing what I’m going to get. I go exploring without a destination. Instead, I attend to what emerges from my cuts. The grain and the quality of the wood I’m cutting tells me what it wants to be. I just listen.

One cut creates on opportunity, the next cut kills the first offering and unearths another. Eventually, I whittle away enough that the creations just start to happen. My whittled little totems emerge more than they are created.

Whittling to me is much like leading or practicing therapy. It’s all about attending to the process and working with what emerges.

I have a reverence for the creative process.

I trust the process so much I almost worship it. Take this foolsletter for example. People (business coaches) keep asking me: You have so much here, what is the point? When and how will you monetize all this content? I am so committed to just being in process that the process of writing leaves me contented. I figure that if I just keep writing, committing to the craft, I’ll get better at writing.

The ‘offers’?

They’re on their way. Bike tours. Experiences. Exclusive foolishness that those who seek novelty, challenge and learning about themselves will engage in. Though what I’m after creating is not for the weak of spirit nor feint of heart.

I’m a pretty extreme dude. My next offerings are for those into pushing themselves. The next offerings are like the blades I whittle with. Right now? They’re being refined. Sharpened and soon ready for the world.

Next offernings?

Yeah.

Something’s brewing in the weirdly wired brain of this fool.

Hard core luxury lake laps and an exploration of legacy for those who need time off the grid to explore such matters.

That’s a bit cryptic. I know.

And?

Stay tuned.

I’m whittling away at something special.