The Desire to Create

I am uncertain if this is an irrational desire or a rational one, but every now and again I get a nagging feeling that I should build something. This feeling somewhere in my gut that I should saw, drill, nail, sand, varnish, create. The problem with this feeling is two-fold: first, the urge is not very specific as to what I should build; second, I have a very limited skill set for actually building anything.

My dad is handy. He has the tools and the means to create. I grew up watching him fix and build things. He built a porch for our house. He finished our basement. He has "helped" me start and finish countless projects around my own house. I always watch what he does, trying hard to learn his secrets. I have picked up just enough to be dangerous. I am notorious for starting a project and then realizing, once I have gotten past the point of no return - punched a hole in the wall, peeled back the carpet, disassembled various electrical or plumbing components - that I don't have the tools or the know-how to finish what I started. So I pick up the phone and call for Dad.

I don't mean to say that my Dad is the world's greatest handyman - more than once I have stopped him before he cuts that last piece of expensive molding too short or he starts to drill holes in the wall all willy-nilly. No, it's not that he's perfect, just fearless. I admire that. I think that my dad and I make a perfect team. I am a good supervisor (a role previously held by my grandfather, late in his life). I know when something makes sense and when it doesn't. My Dad also has this ability to think through problems but we both think just different enough that we often stop one another from making the big mistakes. We compliment each other's thought processes. We talk through our ideas okay; it's often more like a debate than a conversation but we both know how to argue and thankfully we have learned how to listen.

I hope to one day pass along to Sonja the things my dad has taught me.

Be stubborn when you think you're right, but be contrite when you find out you're wrong.