Craftsmanship

In our era of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG - in fact we have to move so fast we don't even have time to say all four words), fast moving media, fast moving cars and trains and planes, craftsmanship has long been sidelined.

It is an outdated and dying professional trait,
because it's too much work, too little gain.

When we do business, it's all about scalability.
Can we scale this? Can we lower our costs and maximise economies of scale?
Can I earn enough money so I can retire by 35?

ive never watched anything in the last few years with so much intensity and amazement,
that left me spellbound as this 18min video.

                                                  The Making of John Mayer's "Born and Raised" Artwork

I wasn't quite  sure what the end product looked like, at every stage I imagined someone would sneeze or trip or drop the glass and ruin everything. I almost wanted to cry at his sheer patience when I hit 14:25 of the video.

The painstaking detail and effort that went into this original art piece, from design to fabrication, was like John Mayer said, impossible to find today -  I would at most imagine it to be a stock graphic or reproduced digital work.

This is absolutely classic and beautiful.

I recall an old friend from school who used to write in classic cursive,
because he loved the old calligraphy style.
He's a boy called Tony, and he had an old soul,
but that's another story for another day.



I am nowhere near any degree of perfection in my life and career,
and I am only beginning to wonder if I can aspire to such heights.

The closest that I may come to craftsmanship is perhaps to taste his sushi in my mouth.

                                                                       JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI

If you haven't watched this documentary, please do yourself a favour and WATCH IT.

It redefined sushi for me, and i never had a bucket list (swimming with dolphins, skydiving and all that jazz),
but i created my bucket list just for his sushi.

また あとで,
kewei