The CUE to Mastering Your Chosen Field
“Mi gerdaff gyda thi dros lwybrau maith!”
“I will walk beside you, over many paths”
This is what Welsh lovers tell each other in their beautiful language. And expressing this love was an intricately carved wooden spoon that is painstakingly carved and traditionally presented to this day as a gift of love in the valleys of Wales. Back in the day, a lovespoon carved by Welsh young men on long winter nights or on endless sea voyages for young women they loved. A lovespoon is carved from a single piece of wood and decorated with Welsh symbols of love. They were also an early form of the logo of a clan.
A true labor of love.
So, rings represent the bond of love, a heart would represent love, a cross would represent faith, the spoon itself would be the act of providing for a lifetime — so on and so forth. The Welsh Lovespoon you see in the picture above has been a part of my life since 1995. As a student at Cardiff University, I bought it from a Welsh craftshop in a village. The lovespoon — it has travelled with my family and me to our home today in Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Today the Welsh lovespoon on account of their intricate artistry are now globally sought after icons for homes around the world. Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe have their own lovespoon traditions, now maintained by a handful of artisans and their families.
You will see the same labor of love in the Coast Salish Native Americans who create stories of their culture on towering totem poles in Seattle on the US West Coast. You will find the same labor of love in the intricate sculptures of South India’s artisans whose skill and craftsmanship in creating ornate sculptures in blue metal date back traditions begun in the 7th century.
You will also find it in a hidden street side vegan restaurant of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), where centuries of Vietnamese culinary art come alive in the hands of the family matriarch, who weaves her magic to create aromatic, see-through noodle soups filled with exotic herbs, green vegetables and aromatic spices.
I consider it privilege to watch masters of graphic design create the page of a book. They begin with the space between the lines of the paragraph. Then, the space between the paragraph and its subheading. And, then come the paragraphs and the title. The invisible grids that hold them together give them a feeling of harmony, calm and life transforming serenity in which to absorb those ideas.
Watch a master work at their craft every day. Every dawn brings them a new idea and a new way to do what only they do best. For a master blender of coffee, it is a slightly different blend of beans. Do it differently every day. do it better every day.
It’s the same labor of love, everywhere. And I have seen three qualities — the CUE — that set the masters apart in the practice of their craft:
— Calm Integrity
The ability to stay focused on your craft with the deep discipline to deliver your best in your present project
— Unbroken Time
Quiet time, personal space and the tools of your profession to work with mastery — day in and day out
— Envisioned Legacy
Knowing that everything you do will leave its imprint in time
They master their craft from moment to moment and they improve on the trade secrets that were taught to them. In the open spirit of our age, many of these inspiring men and women — masters of our time — show us how it is done.
A big thank to my friend Sreedhar Ranganathan gave me this insight on Unbroken Time. To spread their art, they want to inform, involve and inspire everyone around them. Indeed, their legacy inspires generations after them, and make our world a little better for all of us to live in.
In closing these thoughts on loving what you do, I would like to quote from Jerry Garcia who said: “You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do.”
So, here’s to loving what you do — today and every day!
