Human beings by nature are attracted to symmetry. You can see this in just about every facet of life. In art, we’re often drawn to symmetrical designs and patterns. Mandalas are a great example of this. In music, we typically structure our songs in a way that is more or less symmetrical. Think the intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-outro pattern. Even in our attraction to a mate, we subconsciously are attracted to symmetry. Endless studies on the subject have shown that a noticeable lack of facial symmetry is more often than not seen as less attractive. We put a bookcase on both sides of the fireplace. We buy matching nightstands for either side of the bed. Why do we do this? Why are we both consciously and subconsciously attracted to symmetry? Because symmetry is order.

So the next logical question is, why are we attracted to order? In a world with endless possibilities, why are we constantly finding our way back to the same? I would say because this is a creation, brought into existence by One much greater than you or I. And on a fundamental level, it is ingrained in us to take care of that creation, and honor it.

Weird way to start an article Woodshop Bear. What in the world does that have to do with business?

Business, like everything else in this life, is an idea. It is entirely possible to live a life of complete self reliance. Every single one of us is fully capable of growing our own food, raising our own livestock, raising our own children, healing our own ailments, fixing our own stuff, etc. But doing all of it by yourself is incredibly time consuming, and often leads to burn out. So, humans created business as a means to lighten the load. Many hands make for light lifting. Instead of me doing 20 things with the utmost mediocrity during the day, I can now do one thing with greatness. You do a different thing with greatness. When you need the thing I make, you buy it. When I need your service, I hire you to do it. For all of its frustrations, stresses, and trying times, business in itself as an idea is wonderful. Business is literally community. Fiat currency isn’t a measure of business. People helping each other and providing for one another is. Business goes wrong, however, when we lose sight of why we’re doing what we’re doing. Bear with me, as we’re sprinting headfirst into left field with this, but we’ll bring it back home triumphantly.

Business has become a twisted, vile perversion of what it should be, because we lost the order. We lost morality. We became greedy. We became self serving. We forgot why we do what we do. But we can very easily return home. It doesn’t matter what you do for work, or what your business is. What matters is whether you’re doing what you’re doing for selfish reasons, or if you’re trying to bring order to the world and honor God’s beautiful creation. And if you’re doing the latter, you will create ripples of beauty and truth that will form into giant waves.

There are thousands of places to buy a cutting board. There are endless choices. One can do a 1 second search online and find more options than they could ever look at. So why is my business successful and growing every day? Because in every single cutting board I make, I honor the creation. I hand select every single piece of wood I use, and I have loads of fun doing it.

Lumber restocking days are my favorite days. I spend an hour at the store, picking through boards looking for the perfect grain pattern and the perfect colors. I feel excitement driving home with a load of hardwoods just thinking about all of the beautiful things I’ll be able to make. I’m not excited for myself though. I’m excited for whoever orders them. I daydream about a family cooking dinner together, using the board that I made to chop up their fresh garden vegetables. I think about a mother looking at that cutting board after 10 years of use and appreciating that it’s lasted that long, and that she was able to use the money she would have spent constantly replacing a cheap board on her children instead. I feel honored to know that the skills God gave me will, in a way, help put food into the tummies of little ones all around the country. It is a pure, genuine desire to provide for others with something they don’t have the time or skills to craft for themselves.

This is a stark contrast to what we’re used to today, with cheaply made cookie cutter everything. The factory workers (if they haven’t been replaced by machines), couldn’t care less about any of that. They don’t care about the grain pattern of the wood. They don’t meticulously inspect every board, fill every crack, hand polish each board. They stamp them out and ship them off to whatever big box store ordered 10,000 of them for their warehouse. There is no order in that, and there is no honoring the creation. There is nothing but a pure, unadulterated desire for money. From the employees who are just there to collect a check, to the CEO who cares more about his 3rd yacht more than if his customer gets a quality product that will stand the test of time, there is no honor. On the surface, we are both providing the same service. The end result is a cutting board. You can cut your vegetables on either of our boards. But one was made with love, a need to honor God through the use of the skills he bestowed on me, and a very real desire to provide the last cutting board you will ever purchase. The other was made with no love. This might not seem important these days, as society has become very callous, but it really is. My inboxes are full of messages from customers thanking me, full of excitement, commenting on the quality and how thrilled they were when their order arrived. When was the last time you wrote the head of Walmart? People can feel when there is order, and it brings them joy because it’s truth.

Remember the ripple I talked about earlier? It goes both ways. Every day I step out onto my shop, and I create with honor. Every single order I receive puts food in my daughter’s mouth, so there is no option to provide a bad product. If I do, that’s a lost customer. A lost customer is a lost meal. A lost meal is a failure on my part to provide for my family. Failure to provide for the blessings that God gave me is a failure to God. It is not an option for me. If I mess up a knife handle, I eat the cost and make a new one. I spend my entire day trying to be honest, and build my integrity with my customers via what I’m providing for their very hard earned money. This affects every other area of my life.

Since starting this business, I’ve found that this attitude has expanded into all areas of life. I have become far less selfish, far more aware of what my words and actions do, and desire to honor the creation more than ever. What started as making sure I alternate the grain curves in a cutting board so it doesn’t crack years down the road has lead to a revelatory shift in how I view the world, and where I fit in to it.

On the flip side, the same happens in business when it’s conducted from a place of greed, laziness, and apathy. Those paycheck getters, who couldn’t care less about the job they’re doing, will find it exponentially more difficult to find meaning in their lives outside of work. If you’re used to running a machine that stamps out 1,000 cutting boards a day every day, you stop thinking about the mother who will be using one of them. If you see a crack in a board but say “whatever, it’s just one board”, that same apathy and laziness will ripple into your own life 100% of the time. That one crack will turn into just one cigarette after you quit, or one drink, or one affair. You detach from honor. When you are not honoring, you will never find order. Order is found through honor. What guides us in this life is where we want to go.

If you want nothing more than to be wrapped in God’s love in the afterlife, it will show in everything that you do, and will ripple outwards to everyone you interact with. You’ll make the best cutting board you can. You won’t try to rake the single mother for extra money when she comes in to get her car fixed, knowing that she doesn’t know the first thing about fixing cars and she’s relying on you so she’ll for sure pay extra for the blinker fluid. You’ll do everything you can to be of service to others. And in return more people will want to do business with you, because they will be able to feel that you truly care and you’re not just in it for yourself.

As proof of this, a quick story. Today, the Bear who offered me this editor position expressed interest in getting a knife from me. I immediately told him I’d make him one for free. My thank you for all of the opportunities him bringing me on board has brought. He immediately said he wanted to pay for it.

That, my friends, is the ripple. He knows I make good products, he knows my character, my integrity, and my desire to honor God. That made him want to help me feed my children. You will never find that in a giant factory. There is no community in a factory. You’d be hard pressed to find honor in a factory. But that doesn’t mean you can’t.

What matters in business is not what you’re doing. It’s why you’re doing it. Do it to help others. Even if you don’t own a business and you’re just grinding every day trying to break those Babylonian chains. Do it with honor, and do it with gratitude. If you’re flipping burgers, be thankful that you get the chance to feed someone. If you’re a janitor, be thankful that you can provide clean floors for children to walk on. Be thankful that you, in your own way, can help bring order into this world, and in doing so honor the creation that He left us to watch over.

Until next time Bears, Onward!

-Woodshop Bear

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