I keep on stumbling on beautiful writing today. This story about craft, shared by Cat Hicks, PhD, is such a moving reflection on efficiency vs cadence, recognising and seeing the world around you, effort, toil, output vs wellbeing, letting people participate, dignity and of course: family.
« Grandpa could also recognize trees at remarkable distances: beech, birch, maple, oak. He could tell if they were growing healthy. He could tell if they were growing sick. He told me: “it’s when they just don’t look happy.” »
« In the factory, he told me he used to frequently stop people from trying to work faster or differently because it would cause a ruckus, a ripple effect, a mess, he said. It took me a long time to read between the lines and realize that in my grandpa’s world back then, a disruption to the assembly line rhythms got somebody killed. So he kept everyone on cadence, rather than simply pursuing speed. »