COnstruction has begun on the booth! YAY!!

Construction has begun on the booth! I bought the wood on Tuesday and started cutting things to size tonight. I am working at the woodshop at the Petaluma High School. I LOVE being back working in a community shop! Tonight, I prepared pieces for the frame, and three of the four sides of the booth. I caught myself singing while using the compound miter saw to cut the boards to length. I  learned how to make dados using the table saw (thanks Scott!). And, used my new skill over and over and over again to cut 54 dados. I still have to cut several pieces for the doors and put dados into the long parts of the frame. Then, onto the tenons!

Many thanks tonight to Scott and Rollin, and my classmates for their help and patience!

Tonight's confession: This project has been in development for a long long time. And, while I am so excited about finally bringing it out of my head and into the world, I admit to feeling a low level of anxiety around it this afternoon before heading to the shop. I see the anxiety as a combination of fear and self-doubt. The fear of failing to meet my own expectations. The fear that this project will somehow fall short of its dream/image in my head. And, I will have to let go of it. Or, that somehow I may not be good enough, or have the skills and courage to bring this dream/vision to life.

At times like this I find it helpful to seek the advice of others. So, I thought of the most inspiring and motivating quote I have ever found. It was sent to me by a friend, when I confessed that I was paralyzed by insecurity about showing my work. It is from the fantastic Martha Graham...  “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy. A quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly... to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work... you have to keep open and aware.”

And, I remembered the impossible things that I have done, the mountains that I climbed cycle-touring in NZ by living the motto of "just try," and hearing the words of the great Nelson Mandela echoing in my head... "It always seems impossible until it is done."

Just try.

Tonight's personal insight: I can be freakishly focused and quite intense when I am working. I hope I didn't scare anyone. ha ha ha. But, seriously, I am not taking to anyone when I am using a table saw.