Plea #60: Whiddling Sometimes, when there's nothing else to do... I whiddle.
Nothing in particular, just whatever sticks I've got lying around.
Sometimes, I try to get ambitious and make a sculpture from a thicker branch... but most times I just stick to sharpening sticks.
There's really no point to it but to pass the time.
Sometimes I make little things as gifts, or room ornaments, but the vast majority of the time, I just whiddle garbage for the sake of it.
I think there's a lot to be learned from the whiddling process.
We creatures love instant gratification. Whiddling doesn't really give you that.
Instead, it teaches you to be patient and savor each and every little bit of progress.
See, most people ignore small progress, or don't even notice it, only lookin' at the start and end of a project.
And that's fine enough for short-lived stuff.
But if you wanna work on bigger things, that just won't cut it!
You'll get the start, but man, it could be a couple of years before you see that end!
Whiddling's sort of like that, except it delays it a couple of hours or days.
But the lack of stimulation you get from the repetitive process, gives you a pretty good sense of what those big-project-years might feel like...
What was I saying?.. Oh, I don't know.
I like whiddling.
It's slow, pointless, and yet... somehow, pretty fun.
There's some big lesson there, I think.