How do you find tranquility amidst the utter chaos of restoration?
That question naturally has you thinking about home remodeling, doesn’t it. Well, actually it’s about the restoration of life in the middle of chaotic times.
The last half of May found me shop hunting and house hunting at the same time, with the intention of combining the two. The ideal location was almost obtained, but the day I was moving out, it fell through. So, I had to find some temporary housing until I can finally discover the new home of Adam King Studio. Thankfully, the current shop location is still available, but not for much longer as they are needing that space for expansion.
Going back to moving day, I recall being a bit sore the next day, and waking up the day after in serious pain. As the week progressed it got more and more intense. That’s when I knew something was way wrong. I have bad shoulders in the first place, but my right shoulder was in serious distress. A visit to the doctor revealed a bulging disc around C3 or C4 that is pinching the nerves running into my right arm. This in turn was causing the muscles in my shoulder to seize and feel as though it was dislocating. To put it into perspective the Dr. said I am one false move away from laying face down on the operating table as they fuse my neck together. Needless to say, I am now under very strict orders to not do anything that will put strain on the disc and the nerves running to it. This includes moving and it certainly means no woodworking until I’m out of the danger zone. These two scenarios are also sprinkled with a few odds and ends of other small issues that seem to be attempting to trip me up where I stand. It would seem that this whole thing I call life is in utter chaos.
So, what do you do when the vision of peace and tranquility you have for life just doesn’t seem to be the current reality? Let’s look at three simple perspective shifts that will keep you from crumpling like a prize fighter who just got his ribs caved in.
Your environment is where you are at right now.
I emphasize tranquility within the home’s interior quite a bit. It’s my core message. But, what if you aren’t in your home? What if you don’t have a home at the moment? That’s the beautiful thing about tranquility. It isn’t picky about where you are. It can exist anywhere. Just as you engineer a space in your home to produce tranquility, you can alter a temporary space to do the same.
Are you in a hotel room that isn’t conducive to working and resting in peace? Well, move the offending furnishings around until you have a flow that resonates with you and increases the ability to work or rest in a peaceful manner. What about a temporary home? If you’re couch surfing, you obviously don’t have a lot of space to manipulate, but you have personal belongings. Keep your couch surfing supplies in check so they don’t take over the precious little space you’re borrowing. There is an old saying that gets passed around the primitive campers, “Leave no trace.” That’s the general rule to follow in any temporary housing situation. You stand a better chance at a tranquil experience if you keep your things from disturbing the environment you inhabit at the moment. Let them blend into the surroundings of you will.
Tranquility begins inside in order to spill over to the outside.
I know this is something that sounds a bit cliche and over used, but the seeds of tranquility have to begin within you. How can you achieve it if you have no real desire to have it in the first place? How do you expect to take the steps necessary to learn what it is and how to maintain it if there is no internal desire for it? The desire to experience real tranquility breeds the drive to take action on obtaining it. But it’s an inside out experience. Starts inside, and manifests outwardly. The end goal is to be able to engineer tranquility in any environment by first creating it in the interior of the mind.
Chaos is the training ground for tranquility.
How can you expect to maintain your current pant size without training? How can I expect to excel at making high end furniture without constantly testing my skills? In order to maintain and then get better at something that improves your life, you need testing and training. Enter chaos. It is the training ground for achieving and maintaining true tranquility. Just as fire needs water to keep it in check, you need bits of chaos to maintain the ability to engineer tranquility in the mind and the home. Here’s the hard part. In order to really make the most of the training, you have to accept the chaos and even embrace it. Be grateful for it, because without it, you would loose sight of the precious end goal.
I could close this out with a deep thought, or zen-like summary of the whole matter, but not this time. Instead, I’m simply dropping this in front of you so you can examine it, test it, and see if it works for you.
Tell me your thoughts in the comments.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmmm, in my case I need training to change my pant size – downwards.
Still, the thought is valid – if you don’t stretch yourself then you can’t learn new things or improve on the old.
What I find most difficult in obtaining tranquility is the chaotic influences that are around me. When you only have to deal with the occasional chaotic influences but you can normally maintain a level aspect, I suspect it’s much easier.
Right now trying to find tranquility in my life is like standing on a balance ball in the back of a pickup while it’s going over several rough sets of tracks.
It will get better.
That’s one of the best word pictures I ever read, Ken. It feels that way for sure when we take our eyes of the end goal and put it on our feet trying to balance. It’s very difficult when you’re surrounded by the antithesis of what you hope to achieve. So, in these cases, I say do what the Japanese taught me – go to the one place you have that is a sanctuary for developing tranquility. That sanctuary is inside.
As far as the pants size training…well, I’m there too. Many battles to fight!
Hi Adam,
Very nice post. I want to respond to your physical condition. Four years ago I had a disk removed from my lower back and through regular exercise, PT, and stretching, my mobility and balance is really good. Last summer I tripped in my shop while carrying a heavy stack of plywood pieces and I felt something bad in between my shoulders. In a very short period of time my right arm and hand were going numb, just like yours, and there was pressure building up in my neck. An MRI revealed a bulging disk, again, like yours. Now, it is serious, and threatens to be an operation-type situation, but here is the good news. My client at that time turned me on to a chiropractor unlike any I’ve ever known. No manipulation (he says it’s far too dangerous) but a program of laying down with ice against my neck, a change in sleeping position, specific stretches and exercises, traction, and ultra sound massage has made me feel virtually like new. Arm pain, nerve sensations, gone! It’s been a very gentle but consistent treatment and quite effective.
Wishing you a successful treatment.
Tico
I can’t tell you how good it is to hear of someone else’s experience with this. I’ve thankfully been on a similar regiment, so I too am very hopeful that it will steadily heal.
Thank you so much for letting me know what you’ve gone through too.
Adam,
Good points! Additional focus on the whole stream of creative life, including family, art, vocations, faith, and projecting forward through the restorative process are extremely helpful.
Or, If all of the advise you’re getting doesn’t help, I’d try duct tape, but you may opt for new-generation weldwood!
Either way, keep the faith!
It is vital to focus on the real fundamentals of life when it’s all going in unwanted directions. Yet, the chaos brings change, which brings new meaning to existence.
Always good to have your wisdom here, my friend.
I had 7 disks removed from my back almost 20 years ago due to disease. This was replaced with a rib and other bone crushed to fill the gaps and reenforced with 4 rods and 10 pins. The doctors all told me I would never lift over 50-lbs for the rest of my life and this was to a 14-year old boy, right that’ll fly. I busted tail to keep myself healthy in my cube-farm world early on and I have kept nothing short of a regular workout, and exercise schedule since I retired from my computer career and embarked on the full-time odyssey of custom woodworking. Consisting of eating right via fresh and zero processed products, 5-10 miles of bike riding every morning & evening with the wife weather permitting, weights and treadmill on days where weather is in my way, and generally paying attention to how i lift, move, and adjust any project in my shop. I just completed, about 2-months ago, an 96″x42″ exterior door that tipped the scales at over 500-lbs with the glass. I was able to install this on my own with zero ill effect because, in my opinion, of me being healthy, alert, and smart about how I did things.
I can not stress enough to make time no matter what it takes to settle into shape, get the family involved too. Everyone sits on the damn computer and thinks they have friends that way now these days. Think things forward and prevent the injury before it happen, you do it every day in the shop when you are planning out the current cut list and joinery option, it’s not a lot different with your body. Get out and get the blood flowing, that heals everything and I can not tell you how much more alert and observant I am in my shop after a good workout and breakfast. Believe it or not, breaking a sweat and burning calories gives my wife and I so much more energy day to day and I’m always off in the shop when I miss a workout. (Though I do a bike ride if i’m not feeling the shop on a given day, by the time I get back, the shop is the only place I want to be). I’m old school in my up bringing, blue-collar through and through, I push through and make no excuses, I get hurt I tape it up, i’ve been in front of my jointer sitting on a bar stool to get work done. It’s all mind over matter in my opinion. Get it healed brother and make sure it don’t happen again, proactive rather than reactive.
Adam…One very important item has been overlooked I think. “Friends” can, and will help bring about tranquility when allowed. Whether through physical or emotional means tranquility can be achieved with the help of others…We need to have coffee in the next day or so. My treat.
See this Glenn guy up there? Yeah, he’s got some killer wisdom.
You’re right. Friends can bring that sense of strength and stillness that is always missing otherwise. Thanks for it all my friend. Coffee for sure.