You need to make a major change in your life. Do you make it all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally?
I felt that today’s daily prompt was appropriate for me because, as I mentioned at the start of this year, I’m going to have to make one big change to my life in 2013. It’s been a while since I talked openly about it but, it remains certain that I am going to lose my current workshop sometime this year. Threats of an impending or immediate upheaval have eased after a proposed move in to a new living space of my own failed to come in to fruition (the landlord took it off the market). Looking around, there isn’t anything else currently that I can easily afford by myself. So, for an indefinite while to come, I’m staying put at mum’s house and I’m holding on to my workshop.
The timeworn workshop at the Eli Whitney Museum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That isn’t meant to imply that I’m keeping this workshop for good. Mum’s situation hasn’t changed and she will be looking to sell up this year, regardless of whether I stay or where I go.
I cannot imagine the level of stress involved in having to shift or sell all of my woodworking kit in one go. Some of those machines are large and over-powering towards the average human back. I’ve said before that I’ll be hanging on to my hand tools and as many portable power tools as I can carry. Even the prospect of simply buying a couple of storage boxes (I guesstimate three of them) becomes a daunting thought, associated to the realisation of ‘saying goodbye’.
English: Fordyce Joiner’s Workshop The interior of the workshop, crammed with tools, work in progress, items for sale and museum pieces. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That’s why I’m attempting to do this in stages; leaving the largest (and most useful) items until the very end. It may not be the most economical or beneficial mode to suit someone who’s looking to buy, say, one power tool and my 6ft-tall bandsaw (which will need to be collected) but, it’s one heck of a weight off of my own mind. Sometimes, we need to do what’s best for ourselves, even if it may seem a little selfish in our own minds. I’m as guilty as the next person of placing others high and far ahead of my own needs.
Workshop North wall [but not mine!!]. (Photo credit: Derek Lyons)
