This is the title of an interesting essay by Mathew B. Crawford published in the New York Times Magazine.  He makes an eloquent case for the value of meaningful work and entrepreneurship.  I won’t provide any further synopsis (he describes the folly of that task!), but I wanted to post this link because it struck a chord with myself and Joel.

I was a straight-A student in school but knew from an early age that I wanted a career creating tangible things.  My school skills and love of architecture naturally directed me to architecture school, but once I was there I was shocked at the lack of reality to be found in the curriculum.  I switched course to design/build entrepreneurship and haven’t looked back. –Emma

Joel:  I grew up on a small farm on the Oregon coast.  I learned early on the satisfaction of working with one’s hands to create the thing envisioned in one’s head.  One of my favorite early memories was building a fence with my dad.  We would lay out the fence, walk the woods to select a downed cedar tree (left over from logging many years prior), use levers and pulleys to move the tree to open ground, and then split amazingly straight fence posts.  Next we dug the holes, braced the posts plumb, and tamped rocks around the posts-using the axle shaft of an old car.  By the time we had stretched the fence and stapled the wire to the posts we had a fence you could strum a tune on.

I still enjoy seeing this fence performing its important function after a couple decades residing in the inhospitable coastal environment.

It’s been many years since I last built a fence like that but I still apply the simple lessons to all our projects:  Plan the details, build something you can be proud of, and enjoy the process of creating.  –Joel