George Staman, at 102, finds joy and purpose in pottery, constantly striving to improve and embracing the challenge of creation. He still drives and works at his family construction business in New York. On his days off, he takes a pottery class, and when asked why he does it, he says because it’s challenging.
Every week, he brings home a piece of pottery that he doesn’t like. He’s got hundreds of rejected pieces at his house. He keeps searching and trying to create that perfect piece.
This story, which I saw on CBS Sunday Morning, got to me because it showed that regardless of age, we can continue working to improve. But even before trying to improve, there’s that first step of walking into the unknown and being a beginner. There’s a fear that comes with it. Maybe part of the courage is being willing to not be very good at something for a while.
Now that I am retired from corporate life, I’ve had to begin endeavors that I had no prior knowledge of. This includes my work with hospice and learning how to interact with patients near the end of their lives, gently and cautiously.This also includes my work at Interfaith, an organization where I serve meals to those recovering from drug addiction. I may get instructions on how to cut or serve a certain part of the meal, so a level of humility has to be there. I’ve never worked in a kitchen before, so I’ve had to learn how to do that: “Make sure you pull up the enchilada with two spatulas!”It’s humbling being experienced in one part of life and realizing that experience doesn’t automatically transfer to another.
Which calls to mind my mediumship, where almost nothing from corporate transfers over. I’m trying to bring forth solid evidence and messages that are uniquely oriented to a loved one here.
This is similar to my work with spirit art. I really wasn’t an artist before, and suddenly I was drawing spirits or symbols based on my own intuition and what was coming through to me from another source. Sometimes I’m trying not to react too harshly to what I’m drawing and to be gentle with myself, knowing I’m not a professional artist. I’m watching YouTube videos and using them to refine a craft I haven’t really done since grade school.
All of this is to say that we should look at what we’re doing in life and be willing to venture out into the unknown waters of a new endeavor, a new relationship, or anything that maybe puts a little pit in our stomach.
That pit-in-the-stomach feeling that I often get just reminds me that I’m alive. There’s a joy in trying to work at a craft that may never be completely mastered, and being OK with that. It looks like George Staman has found that joy, even with hundreds of pottery pieces that didn’t quite meet his expectations. At 102, he’s still trying. So am I.
