steps

The work I do involves many small precise steps. I often have to add tiny increments of porcelain onto a restoration I am working on and put it into an oven to process - a fifteen minute procedure. and one restoration will require several of these finishing touches which can feel maddening esp if i have the end in sight and want to do something else. this past week when i was in the midst of a very difficult situation, the small steps i was doing at the lab transformed into a clear path of action outside of the drama and story going on in "real life." i could zero in on the actual physical process of picking up the porcelain with a fine brush applying the small increment transferring the restoration to a firing tray and on and on. and there was a soothing quality to the actions and to the compressed time zone it entailed. life outside of time is always present. and i was there.