A Window

We are certainly here at Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking to learn this craft, to hone our skills, to make woodworking apart of our lives.  Our primary purpose in being here is far away from writing a blog.  Yet, we remember what it is like checking the Inside Passage website hoping Robert has posted a newsletter or hitting the refresh button a few times hoping the browser was not updating the page properly.

Visitors to the school all come in with a "Bride on her wedding day"-like smile (ear-to-ear).  We completely understand because we were there too.  Everyday we count ourselves lucky to be apart of this school and this approach to the craft.

The purpose of this blog has been to provide those that want to visit us, with a window.  Alumni, family, friends, prospective students, and fans- you are all apart of our experience in some way and this is our attempt at sharing it with you.

The authors of this blog have been here in Roberts Creek for two years and have participated in the first day/introductory lecture with two separate classes.  That first day Robert gathers us around the front bench and asks us to share who we are, how we came to be here and something special, weird or fun about ourselves.

As you sit there listening to your new classmate tell the story of his/her path in getting here, you begin to realize that you are not so alone.  Maybe the same book, lead you to the same Google search, which lead you to the same website.  Perhaps completely different careers left you each with the same frustrations and caused you to start building a shop under your home.  Granted there are unique details, but you begin to see that you are apart of something special.

Maybe this deflates you a little to realize you are not so unique.  Here the act of sharing brings out quite the opposite.  When we share who we are with people, achievements bring larger celebrations as there are others to appreciate the work you went through to get there.  In reverse, the tragedies are only half as bad because someone else has stood in that hole before and knows the way out.

With this blog entry we are announcing a new window into the school, a way for you to hear some of our stories.  We will be sitting down with individuals close to the school to have a discussion about who they are and what lead them along this path.We have a list of questions that we will all answer; we call the cut list.

Hopefully, this will provide you with an understanding of what brings us here.  Perhaps you will like what you see through this window and you will want to walk through the school's door.  When you do, make sure we see your smile.