Spalted Table

I’ve been trying to recognize patterns and cycles that I fall into in an effort not necessarily to avoid them but to be able to acknowledge them and keep pushing through. One of those is a pattern of fear. Sometimes it’s easy to recognize like when my legs start shaking when I try something new at the skatepark. The smaller instances show up for me as doubt and a lack of motivation.

I wanted to push myself on the drawers both with material and the joinery and as I got closer to starting them I found myself being interested in other projects or hobbies basically anything other than cutting up some fancy wood and risk ruining it. It felt good to be able to recognize and interrupt the cycle that would have ended up with an unfinished project sitting in my garage and instead have a table in my office.

My therapist likes to say “If you can name it you can tame it” which is a good reminder. I also like the wise words I was taught on Saturday mornings. Knowing is half the battle.