Well, today I am feeling optimistic, and I want to write about what I see for the future of Living Stone, starting with the recent past. The last two years have overall been good for us. I have had the most wonderful clients any stonemason could ask for, and I have had the privilege of working on unique projects of my own design. I have, for the most part, had good help and a solid team. My only real low point has been the last 4 months or so. Work sort of came to an abrupt halt sometime in October, and by the time we started our current project, the weather made it impossible to work 9 out of 10 days. Which brings me to now-about to finish a long overdue project with not much on the horizon. I do have one or two small jobs I can do, but nothing significant lined up. That does not stop me from being optimistic about the future, however. I believe that a big job will come through, or at least enough small to medium sized jobs. What makes me so optimistic is that building with stone is my passion, and I refuse to accept the idea that I wont have the opportunity to pursue something I love. That being said, what I see and hope for is to grow my business by partnering with new clients and builders, to be involved with projects that will push the limits of my creativity and skills, and to build my team in order to take on bigger more challenging projects.
In reality, though, I would settle for the way things have been, just with a little more consistency and a slightly milder winter. When it comes down it, I don't do stonework for the money; I do it because I need to feel my hammer hitting stones and chisels, and I need the satisfaction of fitting unlikely shapes together. To tell you the truth, I am addicted. That's my confession: I enjoy what I do so much, I should probably be paying my clients instead of the other way around. On the best days, time goes by too quickly, and it passes in such a way that I am disappointed when its time to go home. In fact, I rarely even notice the time except to decide if we need more mud. So I guess I could say that whatever the future brings, as long as I have my hammer and pile of stones to work, everything will be fine.
In reality, though, I would settle for the way things have been, just with a little more consistency and a slightly milder winter. When it comes down it, I don't do stonework for the money; I do it because I need to feel my hammer hitting stones and chisels, and I need the satisfaction of fitting unlikely shapes together. To tell you the truth, I am addicted. That's my confession: I enjoy what I do so much, I should probably be paying my clients instead of the other way around. On the best days, time goes by too quickly, and it passes in such a way that I am disappointed when its time to go home. In fact, I rarely even notice the time except to decide if we need more mud. So I guess I could say that whatever the future brings, as long as I have my hammer and pile of stones to work, everything will be fine.