Worker

Something timeless about work–the simple tasks we take on with familiarity and reserve never really thinking about the art and design in most human endeavors. Here is a nameless blacksmith from the Puget Sound Lumber Company in 1920. Look at the complexity of his surroundings, the powerful sense of competency in his posture and the astute expression of a person with profound knowledge in his hands. Technology may evolve, our surroundings will drift but in honest work there is something timeless.

Things have changed in the way we think about social status and meaningful work. We too often measure success in accumulated monetary wealth or political influence not considering how it is accumulated or gained. For a moment this blacksmith waits between strikes with a red hot iron bar on his anvil and a long handled hammer in his hand. The passage of time may challenge my perspective but I see a rich man.