Back in the Saddle

 *Taken on my trip

I made it through the past month and am back online.  Thank goodness.

This post may wander for a bit, but I promise it will come back down to what I feel it takes to be classy, as I define it.  I find respect from your peers a crucial slice of the classy pie.

While I was away, I became more in tune with the idea of "craft".  Crafting something precisely by hand is a dying tradition as machines become more inexpensive and technologically advanced.  Fortunately I was able to watch many craftsmen work diligently.  As they skillfully worked, these men were not only earning wages but were in a larger sense preserving a tradition of their culture.

It is important for us to not lose sight of our cultural heritages and to embrace the traditions that give us substance.  Whether your tradition is to keep riding horses on a ranch or to carve delicate petals from marble, it embodies that unwavering vigor that is the human spirit.  To keep doing something the way it should be done is impressive on many levels.  The skill with which somebody painstakingly performs tedious tasks is laudable, along with the fact that they continue do it on principle.

I am delighted that cowboys still exist and some of them stick to the methods used decades ago.  But to watch someone perform skills centuries old is on another level.  Making something by hand simply because it should be done that way is beyond admirable.

Another process not often considered complex is the act of making tea.  A friend of mine has deeply explored and learned the crafts that go into making a cup of tea.  The process of making a documentary about tea lead him to appreciate tea in an unparalleled way.  (Visit this website.)  This friend taught me how making a cup of tea can be analogous to filmmaking.  As a filmmaker, I am greatly inspired by the many details that go into making a film.  If you are not interested in how the film works down to a subatomic level, then why are you working in that medium in the first place?

The science and art of making anything from and with anything else is invaluable to that artist.  But artist may not be the most appropriate term.  Rather, one could think of that person as a creator.  Even then, "creator" does not really reach the extent to which I am grasping.  Facilitator may be the closest I can get at the moment.  Because this person is dealing with so many elements, so many incredibly and infinitely unpredictable elements, they need to hone the craft.  It must be learned in a way that working in the craft is no longer a thought but is a reaction, often emotional or beyond consciousness.

The aforementioned friend brought my understanding of filmmaking (specifically cinematography) from a passion to a general idea, to a concept, to a disconnected nebula of science, to artistic endeavor, to profession, and ultimately back down to an emotional response.  For this I will always be grateful.

So, I hope whatever you pursue in life, you do it with all of the zeal, zest, and cogitation you can muster.  Because it is only from that which you derive satisfaction that ultimately adds to your life.

And when you do this, when you do what is right and fulfilling, you will be respected.  You will have self respect and the respect of others.

My conclusive advice, if you even care to listen, is to take your craft seriously, whatever it may be.  Take it seriously, but not more than it deserves.  Give your work the respect you want for yourself and you will be released from the chains of indecision.  Surviving self doubt will be worth it.  I plan on revisiting these ideas more thoroughly at a later time.  I apologize for the disconnected nature of this post.

I find so much inspiration in the cowboy way of life.  Here is an example of what I mean.  A real man doing real honest work.

Prescription:  Listen to THIS.  Don't forget that "a ranch is just dirt. Grass comes with help from above. Success comes with hard work, luck and care."