I have recently become obsessed with woodworking shows. Woodworking shows, you say? I knew not of such things. But yes, there are two (three, if you count home construction as woodworking) PBS shows on woodworking that I am completely enamored with. One is New Yankee Workshop, hosted by master carpenter Norm Abram, which focuses on furniture building, often on recreating antique furniture. The other is The Woodwright’s Shop, hosted by Roy Underhill, which focuses on all sorts of woodworking with exclusively pre-Industrial hand tools.
It may seems strange for a 20-something urban college student to be fascinated with woodworking, of all things. And it probably is. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained more and more of an appreciation for handmade items. And despite remaining largely unconvinced about global warming (and therefore dangerously compromising my status as a bleeding-heart liberal, I know), I’ve also developed a desire and admiration for the self-sufficient lifestyle. Maybe it’s my bleak outlook on the international geopolitical landscape, maybe it’s the way I’m keeping my eye on 2012 thanks to the Mayans, or maybe it’s just because I’m dirty hippie with antiquarian leanings–but not a day has gone by in the last 8-10 months that I haven’t daydreamed about moving to rural farmland and spending my days tending a large garden, a small herd of livestock, and creating the things I need around my home, be it furniture or clothing, with my own two hands.
It’s one of those strange paradoxes people often find themselves in; though I embrace technology, utilize it constantly, and even lust after its most recent developments, I’m also resentful of its grasp on me, and how much it seems to control the rhythms of my daily life. I’m repulsed by how divorced I am from even the simplest knowledge of how to survive on my own, without the support of a service-based economy. It’s no wonder divorce rates are so high; how can we rely on each other when we can’t rely on ourselves?
Consider this too: I was 21 years old before fresh vegetables were incorporated into my daily diet (and unfortunately, I mean fresh in the fresh-from-the-store sense, not fresh-from-the-earth sense). Though my upbringing is partly to blame (home cooking? what home cooking?), I can’t help but accuse our society of being far too satisfied with its modes of homogeneity and mass production, so much so that the convenience of McDonald’s ultimately deprived me of the simple pleasure of sautéed broccoli and carrots.
I’m sure that I sound very preachy and holier-than-thou to anyone still reading this rant. Truly, I’m not; I think it’s up to every individual to decide how they want to live, and if some people love processed food, the constant buzzing of their cell phones, and think gardening is right up there with “stepping in dog shit” when it comes to having a good time, good for them. But for me, those things lack inspiration and meaning, and so I’ve started to map out the direction I want my lifestyle to head in. Now the only problem is getting there.
What was I saying again? Oh, yes, woodworking. I’d like to try it.
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Posted by admin at 11:32 am 
