What's new? It is a question we are compelled to ask. Whether we live our professional careers as craftsmen or teachers, administrators of some kind, or in sales or in the medical profession, the question "what's new?" is a matter beyond idle interest. Keeping current can be a professional necessity in a world that is driven by technology and for citizens responsible for the needs of community and democratic process. And on the other hand, who is really comfortable with all this? Is there some balance to be found? Perhaps drawn from heritage, tradition and the past? How can we find that comfort? Are there means to keep our heads on straight as we hurl scalp-first into the unknown?

I guess since you are reading this blog, you already know the answer, and that seems to be the way life works. We find the right book at just the right time to reinforce and make clear the consciousness already awakened in our souls. Blogs are the same. There are billions of things to read on the internet at this moment, and yet here we are. And I am honored by your attention. So, each day, I try to make a new post on what has become a very old subject. I will have a tendency as I practice my words in the hope of getting them just right, to repeat myself. Over and over. Same old, same old. It's the craftsman in me. Strokes of a plane on a board. Each is the same. Each is different. In time the board is smooth and flat and ready to serve.

Sorry, nothing new here... The hands have been around for a very long time. And if you want some balance to the aching head, hurling incessantly toward the unknown, take your hands away from the keyboard, find the nearest piece of wood, whatever tools you have at your disposal and make something. You might find yourself drifting away from the "what's new?" and find yourself asking questions of some deeper nature, whose answers lie within your grasp.