Bernard Walter

Category: Quick Thoughts

  • April 23, 2024

    I was thinking about mastery of a craft today after watching a YouTube video of Japanese craftsmen making, what looked to be, game boards. Their commitment to craft was intentional and apparent. With tireless patience, they reproduced that same product repeatedly.

    A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes is better than a master of one.

    There is a beauty that is lost is the generalization of skills. We value productivity higher than the product. We have confused the value of more. We want what we have to do many things instead of doing one necessary thing well. We treat people the same way.

    We would do well to sharpen our focus, to narrow our perspective, looking at what the true purpose of our actions are. In so many ways, we’ve complicated simplicity.

  • April 17, 2024

    The world must’ve heard me complaining yesterday because I got two rather nice compliments today.

    One happened during lunch when a student said that the library wouldn’t run without me and that she hopes I’m the librarian again next year. It’s nice to hear that, especially when you feel as though you’re not doing your job as well as you could be. It’s a nice, soft kick in the ass to do better.

    The second was when I man I met in the sauna at the gym told me that I have a very warm smile. Turns out he’s a former principal and now works as a psychotherapist. We had a good conversation around the book he’s writing. It was a pleasant compliment, even if the circumstances were a bit unusual. It’s been quite some time since anyone has complimented my smile.

    I had to pay it forward so I bought the concierge a Snapple on my way home.

  • April 9, 2024

    I’m finding myself growing increasingly impatient, wanting things to get done, to make progress. I got angry with one of my classes today because only one person completed the homework. I find myself standing in the middle of the library just turning circles in the same spot, trying to figure out how things got so disorganised in the last hour. At home, I’m edgy about getting to my computer to work on a new tea light lantern, taking pictures of products, reading material about business, or wanting to go to the shop. At the shop, I stay later than I should because I want whatever I’m working on to get done. My YouTube channel feels stagnant and I don’t know what to do about it. I even worry about these blog posts and the quality of them.

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  • March 31, 2024

    Nearing the end of each month, I look ahead to the next month as an opportunity to start the things I wanted to have started already. At some point, I just have to accept that starting at any time, the 15th, 22nd, 31st, or 7th, is the right time to start. I attach an importance to dates that I needn’t do.

    My plan for next month is to stop waiting for another month to arrive before starting on the things I want to do. Tomorrow is April 1st. No joke.

  • March 29, 2024

    There’s a different satisfaction that comes from working for yourself. Since I woke up today, I’ve been working on something. As ever, I was hoping to get to the shop but ended up getting things done on the computer.

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  • March 20, 2024

    I got marked older on Monday when I picked up my new glasses. Both pairs.

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  • March 13, 2024

    I wish that more days could be like yesterday and today, spending my time working for myself and seeing some progress.

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  • February 28, 2024

    I was thinking about doing something to help support humanitarian efforts the world over. The idea of making and selling pens came to mind this morning. I’m not sure how to go about it, or even if it’s worth the effort, so I’m going to look into it a bit more.

    There’s a greedy part of me that wants to gain a little bit from this effort. Not much, but something. I also want to get some advertising out of it. This is going to be harder to wrestle with than will figuring out what I’m going to do…if I do anything.

    It’s too easy to sit over here in my privilege.

  • February 25, 2024

    We went to Costco today, an adventure that’s exciting in its own right. But, the real treat was seeing the sunset as we were leaving.

    There are a few apartment buildings in the area. Every time I’m there during the golden hour, I wish I had my camera with me. There are two buildings in particular that I’d like to capture. Today, though, we got some pretty clouds on my phone.

    For everything we have in the world – a quick look in any Costco shopping cart is a good reminder – there’s not much we can do that’s better than what already exists. The world, in all its majesty, sometimes reminds us that it’ll always win.

  • February 21, 2024

    Unclear.

    I was reading a math textbook today. It took me a few pages to realise that I didn’t retain any of what I was reading. The same thing happened last night when I was looking up the difference between “who” and “whom.”

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  • February 16, 2024

    I was sweating a fair bit. Through the window, I could see naked men walking through the hallway from the change rooms to the showers, and then back again. Staring at the grain of the wood lining the walls, I was convinced it was cedar. I was sitting on the top-level bench in the sauna at the YMCA when I started hearing the Village People singing in my head.

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  • February 8, 2024

    One of the most common conversations I’ve been having lately are about how tired people are. Amongst my colleagues, a simple knowing glance in one another’s direction is enough to convey the same message: I’m wiped. This fatigue is more than just a bad night’s sleep.

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