Across the street, sculptor Jeff Buccacio is restoring our town’s 1897 Civil War statue that stands patriotically in front of the library. This four day process has me thinking about the patience and attention to detail that it takes to be able to step back at the end of a task and say, job well done. Some artists seem to work quickly. Bernini, creator of many fountains and sculptures in Rome, was prolific, perhaps because he created from ‘head to stone’, omitting the rough drafting stage. Mozart ‘thought’ the music right onto the score. Other artists work slowly, but regardless of speed, a job well done involves patience and attention to detail.
All of us have specific accomplishments that we can put in the job well done category--athletic, artistic, intellectual, social, you name it. The books I wrote for teachers, which were the result of years of patience and attention to detail, come to my mind. I spend my professional career learning, practicing, and fine-tuning what I loved doing. Ah, loved doing. That’s what Jeff Buccacio told me was so essential to him, and what he tells his eight year old daughter: “Find something to love to do.”
What does this have to do with silence, solitude and simplicity? Working toward that job well done satisfaction is not simple. Maybe that is why I’m not pursuing the quilting project stashed away in my closet. I’ve done the complex and now I want the simple. Is one complex, rewarding, job well done in our lives is enough? Maybe the final reward, the final job well done is to move toward the simple life. Regardless,
Job well done, Jeff, and you’re still young.
All of us have specific accomplishments that we can put in the job well done category--athletic, artistic, intellectual, social, you name it. The books I wrote for teachers, which were the result of years of patience and attention to detail, come to my mind. I spend my professional career learning, practicing, and fine-tuning what I loved doing. Ah, loved doing. That’s what Jeff Buccacio told me was so essential to him, and what he tells his eight year old daughter: “Find something to love to do.”
What does this have to do with silence, solitude and simplicity? Working toward that job well done satisfaction is not simple. Maybe that is why I’m not pursuing the quilting project stashed away in my closet. I’ve done the complex and now I want the simple. Is one complex, rewarding, job well done in our lives is enough? Maybe the final reward, the final job well done is to move toward the simple life. Regardless,
Job well done, Jeff, and you’re still young.
