Quality and the Craft of The Good Life

Abstract

“Quality and the Craft of The Good Life” is a personal essay exploring the relationship between work and the pursuit of a fulfilling life. Originally intended to follow the narrative arc of the construction of a table, this work takes a wayward and circuitous route around the life and meditations of a craftsman. The construction of the table takes a back seat to a reflection on the broader significance of craftsmanship as a medium for understanding and articulating Quality, which is a central theme. I have not set out to reach conclusions, or to provide the reader with a definitive, or even a remote understanding of The Good Life. Rather, in reflecting on the years I’ve spent working with my hands, I’ve sought to meditate on the development of my own understanding of what a Good Life might look like, namely for me. If a broad conclusion can be drawn, it is that the elusive goal of a good life is only achieved by elevating the experience of the banal, and by celebrating the commonplace. The narrower, personal conclusion extends from the broader one. It involves the patterns of my character; the restless decisiveness that has delivered me from one ideal to the next, often in disregard of the successes of each.