‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop. ‘ — Lewis Carrol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Seeking and Searching

So, dear reader, may we heed the advice of Mr. Carrol, and let us begin.  My aim with this blog is to not only document my adventures in the wonderland of metalsmithing, but also to track the personal philosophical and ideological changes that come along with this journey.  My hope is that these writings will contain a seed of wisdom that will spark something within you.  I am currently at a major crossroads in my life, and I have the strong feeling that now is the time to capture the challenges and triumphs that come with this transitional period.  When a snake sheds its skin, wouldn’t you want to know what that feels like?  

Like basically every one of us in modern society, I have long dreamed of escaping the drudgery of a ‘normal’ working existence.  This had almost gotten to a point of obsession for me, and I would spend hours during ‘work’ daydreaming about my alternative life timelines.  Why hadn’t I become a glaciologist, spending half of the year in Antarctica?  Or an accomplished sailor voyaging around the world? Or an acrobat in the circus?  Or an ethnobotanist?  I saw all of the potential unrealized life paths that I did not take branching out before me, and I was staring down them all from a point of view colored largely by regret.  This had gone on for years, and I was essentially frozen in the well-worn wagon ruts of comfort and complacency.  I was running on a treadmill of ‘good enough’, and it seemed that everything around me was conspiring to keep me there.

The Spark to Fire the Forge

During this time, by what can only be called an act of divine dice rolling, the world of metalworking entered my life.  Through a chance meeting at a lunch table during a conference I almost didn’t attend, I met Mark Files, my first metalworking teacher.  It was one of those things that slid sideways into my awareness.  I had always been intrigued by artisans and craftsmen, but it had never been something that I knew I could learn on my own.  My mind was continually blown away with each new tool, skill, and material that Mark showed me.  From early on, I was hooked, and I knew that I had a future in this — I just didn’t know exactly what it would be.

Fast forward a year and a half, and I had undergone a gradual but substantial transformation.  Our garage had morphed from a glorified storage unit into a fledgling shop, with tools, metals, and chemicals crammed into all free nooks and crannies.  I had taken many metalworking classes and watched countless hours of Youtube tutorials.  I had sold my wares at multiple festivals and markets across Oregon, as well as via my Etsy store.  Friends and family proudly wore my jewelry, and our garden was scattered with the art I had made.  

The deeper I go into this world, the more I realize how far I have to go.  The rabbit hole reveals the tip of the iceberg.  Yet, to tie this back to the theme from the beginning of the post, I see that I have begun to dismount the treadmill of ‘good enough’.  I recently left my work-from-home job in the natural foods industry to devote more time to this craft (although I still do part-time consulting work to pay the bills).  I am outside of my comfort zone each day, experimenting and constantly learning new skills.  I still don’t know exactly what shape this metalworking will take in my life, but I am forging it into something.  The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  I can tell that this is only the beginning, and my mantra over the past couple of months has been “just keep going”.  So that is what I will keep on doing. If you’ve ever felt stuck or dreamed of a more creative life, I hope my story inspires you to take that first step toward transformation.