DP's 11/25/09 to 11/27/09

11/27/09
I discovered a new technique today. Previously I'd been carving aggressively with my right hand or else I was holding the blade to the wood with my right hand and pushing the blade gently with the thumb of my left hand. I discovered today that if you push gently with your opposite thumb in a smooth sweeping motion (instead of pushing) you can actually slice through the wood and peel off much cleaner layers or shavings. it also feels much smoother and more rhythmic. Today was better that both yesterday and the day before. I was very much involved with the wood and very little involved in the world around me. Outside thoughts did not feel so much like intrusions but more like slight waves in the pool of water. Eventually each wave dies down and the water is calm again. The key is not to fight it. Embrace it. Become aware of it, and the embrace will become more powerful that thought itself. Soon the acceptance of the thought becomes the new thought, and then no thought at all. Instead just an easy relaxed focus.

11/26/09
Today was a little more hectic than yesterday. After all it is thanksgiving. Whittling came as more of a relief today than it did the first time. It really is very soothing. And I think its very good for people who may have problems with goal orientation. With whittling you are very limited in what shapes you can make by the grain of the wood and the shape of the piece you start out with. It also depends what kind of blade you have. This doesn't mean you don't have freedom. You still choose where to put your knife and what pieces to take off at which time. What makes it different that guitar is that by the end of the session you will not have produced anything whole. There will be no resulting song or sculpture or piece or composition. There is simply the evidence that you have worked the wood one way or another. Moreover, its very difficult to carve the wood exactly how you want it. In fact, most of the time, the wood is really carving you. Just like the buddhist master who lets the bow shoot through him. Unfortunately I had most of these thoughts while carving the wood instead of after it. Which meant that for a good few minutes my mind wandered, but I got back on track afterwards. I really enjoy this as an alternative to guitar.

11/25/09
I had a hard time finding a ride home this thanksgiving and when I did the driver's car was too small to fit my guitar so I had to go home without it. I thought maybe I could play my sister's guitar instead but she also had to leave it at college for the same reason. In search of a practice, I picked up whittling. This worked very well. I find to be it very relaxing. It's physically engaging without being mentally straining. Similar to guitar. While there is no musical aspect involved, there is the shape of the wood, and the feel and the texture. I wouldn't say its goal oriented, because I have know Idea what I've trying to carve right now. I'm just putting knife to wood in anyway thats pleasing to me. I found it surprisingly easy to focus. The wood is a problem that i can solve without having to use words or complex thoughts. Its fairly intuitive and very right brain. I would definitely recommend it as a practice in the future.