Hello Muleteers, and happy Friday to those who celebrate.
Danielle from the Blue Ridge Mountains asks, “My husband is ten years your junior and has a lot of admiration for you. He shares your passion for woodworking and is arriving at a place in his life when, after years of service to duty, he can finally pursue his dream in carpentry. He’s currently attending trade school and will be finished with his apprenticeship in the next year or two. Lately, though, he’s starting to worry that maybe he’s too old to start over in such a manual field. Is there any advice, or are there any words of encouragement you might you offer him?”
Thank you kindly, Danielle, for this question.
Ten years my junior would be about 42 years old, which, I’m happy to report, is a very young and sprightly tally of years. In fact, I would posit that any age is young enough to begin a new discipline, or practice, in making. Age-related characteristics like strength, balance, and stamina might have an effect on one’s choices, but that just means you might climb fewer ladders to frame out rafters, and lean more towards working at a bench or even seated, carving amazing spoons.
Learning to build things with one’s hands as a woodworker or carpenter will actually make you feel younger, as you invest tears, sweat—and just the occasional bloody finger, with a little luck and a little vigilance. Hitting your thumb with a hammer is the best way to learn not to.
Depending upon his aspirations, there are so many fruitful ways one can utilize one’s hands to manipulate wood with tools. Making a living at it is another story, but a couple years of trade school will certainly help expand his opportunities. Whether it ends up his main income source or not, it can certainly go a long way towards improving his life.
A wise teacher once told me that to always ensure myself of a happy life, simply maintain the attitude of a student. If we have something to be learning, some way in which to be improving ourselves (the opportunities for which are numerous and many-colored), then there is a reason to jump out of bed in the morning and get busy on said project.
In short: I wanted to be a professional actor, but on my parents’ advice, I also cultivated my skills as a carpenter and then as a fine woodworker. That required a mixture of curiosity, love, and strategy, and those skills helped me enormously to pay the bills whilst I continued to pursue the original goal of acting work. But they also helped me fill my life with an entirely different sort of creativity, bringing with it a whole community of artists and tradespeople, plus a breadth of knowledge of wood species, trees and other plants, as well as physics and history, and, well, you get the idea. Feed your curiosity and there’s a good chance it will pay off in more ways than one.
Hope this was encouraging.
Love,
My farm work depends upon your fertilizer, so do please leave me questions in the comments and let me know where you’re from.
Be Careful Mixing Wood & Work