Relative Something

I had an insight the other day while sculpting away on that oak bracelet I’m making for Cyndie. Let’s see if it translates very well, from the catacombs of my mind of a few days ago, to words typed by my fingers today.

I tend toward doing my sculpting at an incredibly slow pace. I work by hand and use tools that don’t remove a lot of material in one pass. Still, there comes a point in the overall process where I switch from the rough file, or rasp, that I use for creating a basic shape, to one that is less coarse, for refining that shape.

What stood out for me recently when I made that switch, was how the use of the finer tool reveals scars in the wood made by the first tool.

As I achieve the shape I am seeking by using the first tool, the piece actually takes on an appearance of being smooth, compared to the untouched shape from which I started. In a way, I could stop right there and viewers would be able to perceive the contours of the form I am creating. However, there is even more beauty available by going further.

Continued filing with the finer grain rasp will smooth out the high spots, giving more of a polished look. Yet, at the same time, that makes the ‘valleys’ of scratches left by the previous tool, really stand out.

It all relates to my life of late. For the most part, things were in a form that had me adequately satisfied. Life rarely allows ‘adequately satisfied’ to endure unchallenged. There are an infinite number of ‘tools’ in the world, working together to smooth our rough edges, whether we seek it, or not. The process reveals some of those scars left by the previous lessons we’ve been through, allowing us opportunities to take measures toward polishing them out.

I think the trick is in recognizing what is going on when the challenges arise. In my sculpting, it is a very beautiful part of the process, seeing the transition occur when I change to a finer grain tool. Wouldn’t it be a treat to be able to see our challenges as beautiful while we are in the midst of the process? We certainly appreciate the beauty of seeing and being among people who display a particularly polished personality.

Next time you are with someone you perceive as being ‘polished,’ remember the work that occurs to grow to that state of being. Then be sure to recognize that all of us are truly works of art!