I learned a thing today! About a month ago my boo and I bought a piece of slab to be worked on as our future counter top for our new bathroom. Yes, I got that idea from Pinterest which always look beautiful and fun until you start working on them. My husband, after we were sanding our hands away and who actually know about tools got this sanding machine that saved the project, our bathroom and probably our lives. I started working with it today and let me tell you that I learned more than sanding wood.
You will appreciate in the attached video the difference in texture from rough to smooth. But before I got to learn how to achieve the look I wanted I had to pay attention to the technique I needed in order to get it. In stead of going back and forth with the machine, trying to rush the job, I had to stay in one corner for a bit longer and work in that little piece before moving on. However, I needed to pay attention to what I was doing because I didn't want to go too hard and ruin or hurt that specific spot or myself for that matter. I had to work on the overall texture and then each dent and spot; so attention to details were a must. I had to learn how tilting the machine will allow me to get through some dents. I paid attention to the sound of the machine and how much dust it was producing. That's how I was able to even appreciate the job I was doing and the beauty underneath the rough texture. Then it hit me.
It hit me in so many examples!
In music, how many times we rush through the process of learning an instrument or even our vocals and pretend to sound like Herbie Hancock or Whitney Houston. Also, I know a few people that are not even done with one instrument and get bored and jump to the next one. Every craft requires time but also requires the attention to details. Every song we write, every pre-production work every detail during real production and final recording. Then you get a masterpiece. Many times we are so rushed to get considered in bands, plays or gigs of any kind and we forget what it takes to be part of it.
This example also hit me about relationships of any kind. Human beings are a piece of art. I would say the most complicated pieces of art. There's no machine that you can rent for a day to fix any kind of relationship between individuals. It not only takes time but technique and craftsmanship. As we go through our teenager years to adulthood there are many experiences that start making our edges rougher. Then life itself will contribute to the rest of us and some of us could become as rough as this piece of slab, the beauty underneath (and I don't mean only physical) is so hidden that nobody can see it.
Still, I think there's a sanding machine in all of us. We need the time, technique and attention to details. Each personality will require different techniques. We can't be strong to all people because some might not handle it. People have different dents and their slab might not be that thick so we have to work carefully. We can't pretend for people to react like we would for everything because we might be going through a different process.
Do you know those "know it all" that we always get in certain parties or gatherings? There's always that one person that experienced it all, right?? Sometimes, that's what I feel about that little voice that comes to my ear trying to plant in my head things about people that I don't even know it's true. That little voice we all have to deal with is that annoying "know it all" that we need to ignore.
If we start having faith in each other and know that those rough areas are not supposed to be there and we learn to imagine the beauty underneath I can't even imagine what this world could be.
I have some rough areas I need to work on but I don't want that to cover some other beautiful spots God allowed me to develop. So I'll turn my sanding machine on by faith, faith that I can be better and faith in other people. How about you?
Love,
So