What are the hallmarks of an artisan?  What makes them stand out?  In this episode we explore the 3 C’s of artisanship – no matter what your walk of life.

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On This Episode

Rhythm of Life – I’m Not Singing
Random Riffs – At a Loss for Words
Feature Segment – The Three C’s of an Artisan Life

Today’s Quote

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.  –Leo Tolstoy

Rhythm of Life – I’m Not Singing

I strode to the stage and prepared to sing.  I planted my feet, nodded to the accompanist, took a breath, and then told myself, “I’m not singing.”

Why would I do that?  Tell myself not singing when I clearly am?  Because singing is not only physical and emotional; it’s also mental.  Your brain tells your body what it takes to make each note.  And mine has gotten its signals crossed.

All of us do things automatically – like walk, sit, or stand.  And often our movements are done with more effort than they need to.  Our signals get a bit crossed.  Sometimes it comes from an old injury or trauma.  We adjust to compensate, and then keep it up when the injury is no more.

In order to stop these habits, we often need to tell ourselves that we aren’t doing the thing we are doing.

What do you not want to do today?  Leave a comment.

Random Riffs – At a Loss for Words

Have you ever felt like you were at a loss for words?  We all feel that way sometimes, even when it’s important to speak.  When we focus on ourselves, it’s easy to feel tongue-tied.  When we focus on other people, it’s easier to naturally respond.

Feature Segment – The Three C’s of the Artisan Life

On the last episode we talked about why you want to be an Artisan – no matter what your walk of life.

What are the hallmarks of an artisan that we can apply to any industry? It turns out there are 3 C’s: craftsmanship, creativity, community.

Craftsmanship – making something with the highest workmanship.  Something that stands apart from the rest.  Like a Stradivarius violin.  Sculpture by Michelangelo.  Shaker furniture.

This doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes a lot of practice, work, and coaching.

We can often notice when craftsman is at work.  It exhibits these 3 characteristics.

1. Appears effortless.
2. It works. Or fits.
3. It’s often simple.

Craftsmanship alone is not enough.  Creativity is needed too.  It’s not necessarily artistic creativity.  It can also be the way you solve a problem.  Innovate new technology or repurpose the old.  Marry facts and story. Or science and faith.

When the left and right brain work together, we get a perfect marriage of craftsmanship and creativity.  Two hallmarks of an artisan.

What’s the third C?  Community.  Most great artisans don’t create art alone.  They need other people.  To develop, encourage, empower, appreciate their art.

The letter to the Hebrews in the Bible says this: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

As Simon Sinek says, “Together is better.”  There’s power in together.

Community also shows up in those with whom we share our work.  We want to be better for them.  To make life better for them.

Why not take stock right now?  Do you have one C that is less developed than the other two?  Why not commit today to develop it further? Choose one and get started.  Remember – this is a long game.  Like an apprenticeship.  You don’t have to do it all at once.  It’s better if you don’t.  And you have to be willing to be bad before you can be good and then great.

Make your commitment in the comments, or send an email to kathleen@kathleenannthompson.com.  The sooner you get started the sooner you’ll get there.   Start becoming an artisan today.