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shop class as soulcraft ; was: professional potters

updated sat 13 feb 10

 

Lee Love on fri 12 feb 10


On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 10:57 PM, David Woof wrote:

> I would only add that the public looks to professionals for that "somethi=
=3D
ng" more than the >ordinary in the way of ethics and trust. =3DA0That a tru=
e =3D
professional is expected to study, train, be, >and do, and go to what ever =
=3D
length necessary or in their power get it right and serve rather than >be s=
=3D
erved.

You are discussion our moral attitude toward work, which is
something I value, but I am not sure that it is a universal definition
of professional or related to the simple question John asked. A
good focus for the subject would be character.

Something I realized from my time at monasteries and later during
my apprenticeship, is that character is not automatically developed
just because you mediate or as Yanagi might have us believe, making
folkcraft. You have to have an intention to work on your character.

Matthew Crawford looks at the trades in a magical way. Yes, doing
the work can effect one's character, but you have to have that goal in
mind and also work in an envirionment conducive to its development.


Here is a link to the essay that inspired the book Shop Class as
Soulcraft:

http://heartclay.blogspot.com/

Here is a quote, maybe a jumping off point:

"The man who works recognizes his own product in the World that has
actually been transformed by his work: he recognizes himself in it, he
sees in it his own human reality, in it he discovers and reveals to
others the objective reality of his humanity, of the originally
abstract and purely subjective idea he has of himself."

--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/

=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi