Carving And Chiseling
Dear Reader,
Apologize for missing last week’s post. School has started and as it turns out, it’s quite chaotic. We missed a whole year of in-person school, so going back to getting the kids out the door on time was giving me so much anxiety. To the point that I hit and broke my pinky toe to the bed frame when I was rushing around the apartment. And every parent will know this - little kids back in school means catching germs and getting sick. My littlest one caught a cold after a week in school and I wasn’t able to do my own thing. Happy to report that she’s all better and my toe is recovering.
Thank you for your patience.
About 2-3 years ago, I heard a still small voice that I should carve a wooden spoon. At first, I didn’t think much of it. I am not a crafty person, I don’t have the patience to sit still and make something. But that voice slowly got louder and I couldn’t ignore it.
One night, I met up with some friends and told them about the voice. A friend said, “I don’t know why, but a spoon carving video popped up on my YouTube this morning. I’ll send you the link.”
I watched the video, bought some wood carving tools and got into work.
Well, it was not as easy as I imagined it to be. At the time, I was pretty weak from losing large amount of blood due to the fibroid. Wood carving required so much strength. I carved and carved for an hour and it barely made a dent. It also required so much patience, which I didn’t (still don’t) have. I found myself breathing fast and gripping the block of wood so tightly because I desperately wanted it to be a spoon already.
I put it away after an hour.
Fast forward to now, my mental and physical health are at a much better place, that faint voice to carve a wooden spoon is speaking to me again. I brought out the tools, rewatched the video and started carving and chiseling again. This time I had much more strength. I was learning as I went. Certain parts had to be carved certain way and then another parts needed to be carved at a different direction. Sometimes I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the process, other times I was anxious and forgot to breathe. I stopped after an hour, when my arms couldn’t move anymore.
I could see a spoon now! But it’s not pretty.
Ok, did what I was told to do and I put the tools away. Days later I looked at the picture of the spoon and realized something. This slow process of carving and chiseling is a perfect metaphor of where I am at in life right now. I am carving layer and layer off to reveal what I am meant to be. But boy, this process requires so much patience, strength and will. I wanted the spoon to be my ideal art piece, but looking at what I have so far it is actually quite beautiful in this innocent, infantile stage.
This is far from done and I don’t know when it’ll be done, but I’ll share update when I arrive to that place.
