Mark LoveMar 25, 20201 minWhy Are We Waiting?Why are we waiting? We are waiting for those who have the disease to fight their fights all the way to the end. We are waiting for the...
Mark LoveMar 13, 20205 minAnd Now We Wait: Keeping Sane In our "Cancel Everything" World (advice from my Seattleite friends)Prepped and ready. Toilet paper and cans of beans, hand soap and pasta, paper towels and bags of chips. Here we go. But where are we...
Mark LoveMar 7, 20202 minUnderstanding Wood (and also other things)“Wood evolved as a functional tissue of plants and not as a material designed to satisfy the needs of woodworkers.”* And yet we...
Mark LoveFeb 18, 20202 minVulnerability and GrowthI don't like feeling vulnerable. It scares me. But the more I learn about wood, the more I realize that if I'm ever going to grow I have...
Mark LoveNov 18, 20198 minI Deserve BetterFor some people the hardest thing to say is “I love you.” For others it’s “I’m sorry.” The most difficult words for me are “This is what...
Mark LoveNov 11, 20193 minBe QuietSound affects me. And so it affects my work. There is a moment in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance when the narrator takes his...
Mark LoveNov 4, 20197 minWhy Can't I Forgive Myself?“It’s not going to go,” Michael said. His face was hidden on the other side of the giant wardrobe. I was left to judge his mood from his...
Mark LoveOct 29, 20197 minThe Healing Power of Making Stuff."The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place...
Mark LoveOct 21, 20195 minHave I Wasted My Life?If you visit my wood shop and look around for a while, you'll probably notice them, and you'll probably say something. Something like,...
Mark LoveOct 9, 20192 minRhythmWorking wood is always a rhythm. The mallet strikes the chisel, then raises up, then strikes it again. The hand plane sweeps the board,...
Mark LoveOct 17, 20187 minSeven Ways My Life Is Better Since Deciding I'm Not So Sure About GodI revisit The Missing Piece regularly, ever since a friend gave me the little book two decades ago. I see myself in the story. The little...
Mark LoveSep 10, 20186 minBe still.There it is. I was looking for it. I was starting to wonder if I'd find it at all, after coming all this way. A plane over the Atlantic,...
Mark LoveSep 6, 20181 minExposing EverythingWho was it that first decided we should hide from view the parts of furniture that make a piece function? Who first said we need to...
Mark LoveSep 5, 20181 minMade By HandsTo own a thing made, from start to finish, by a single pair of hands is a privilege that is now nearly extinct. Look around your house,...
Mark LoveAug 31, 20181 minBendPeople are sometimes surprised to see how much a piece of wood can be bent without breaking. To which I always say, Watch what a tree...
Mark LoveAug 10, 20182 minDustImage: Bones by Corinne Schulze, used by permission I sanded all day today. My hands are dry, raw, sensitive. I can feel the texture of...
Mark LoveAug 4, 20184 minSimplicity as HealerWhenever I meet someone for the first time and they find out what I do for a living, invariably the next question they ask is, “What kind...
Mark LoveFeb 28, 20184 minNothing is PermanentWhen I was 26 I rented a little gray house in a very old south Austin neighborhood. Before I even signed the lease I decided that the...
Mark LoveFeb 23, 20187 minThe Inner StunningSo many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were...
Mark LoveFeb 21, 20184 minFilling the CracksI have a woodworker friend who refuses to work with mesquite. ‘Firewood,’ he calls it. ‘Makes excellent steaks, horrible furniture.’ He...