A long while ago I had some baby chicks. They lived their best life inside a metal basin under a heat lamp, but eventually they would need an actual coop. Of course it only made sense for me to build it. Even though I had never so much as cut a Thanksgiving turkey, let alone a piece of wood with a spinning blade of death… Details. I would figure it out. My research really consisted of me googling the most elaborate chicken coops on the planet. Some of these coops would make the architects of the Taj Mahal blush. For some reason I thought diving in would be the greatest teacher I could have. I didn’t want to overthink it, just go for it. Looking back now I really do admire how I just kinda went for it. I had a drill in my hand and a song in my heart. I wasn’t paralyzed with decisions about the frame, the wood, length of the screws, windows, and ensuring there was a proper roost. Absolutely there is a time for sitting back and creating a well thought out plan. But I think if I spent more time analyzing all the things I didn’t know I would not have gotten started and would have just felt more inadequate. I was riding on unearned confidence.
During the build process, I had no idea what my neighbors must have thought. I was walking around on the back patio looking at things, tilting my head, misplacing my pencil, losing my tape measure, then making one cut on an old circular saw that I would deem “close enough.” I was beginning to realize what I was getting into. I was in way over my head. I was beginning to realize all the things that I had no idea about. This was not the same as slapping some legos together or building an Ikea bookshelf without using the instructions. Despite all this I deeply enjoyed the practice of trying to solve problems, making things work, and researching something that interested me. I was being pretty gentle with myself whenever there was a setback, I would not be surprised, because I had just started this whole saw-wielding business a few days prior. Henry Ford said failure is an opportunity to grow. And fail I did. I failed all over the place with that first coop. The corners weren’t straight and somehow each wall was a different length. The chickens actually LOVED the coop because they could escape from it so easily. The big idea here is that I failed. I think I went into this knowing I would have some room to grow and that each mistake, wonky angle, crooked side, incorrect cut, was just something I could fix next time. Carol Dweck also talks about this in her book Mindset. In her book Dweck talks about how we are all on our way and as long as you’re still working and learning, you’re still improving. Keep moving forward. Small incremental movements forward. I haven’t figured this thing out YET. Remembering to frame things with the word yet is such a simple and basic reminder that you’re still on your way. I haven’t figured out how to stop the chickens from escaping YET. I haven’t learned how to make 90 degree corners YET. This helped me to be more gentle with myself.
After I was “finished” with the coop some people came over for a BBQ. I remember one person in particular who was further along in their woodworking abilities was laughing and critiquing just about everything. Now, it’s one thing for you to laugh at yourself and keep things light, but when it goes beyond that to being deprecating and more harmful that needs to stop. This person could easily have built a better coop and they knew that. The person continued to walk around and laugh and judge it for the rest of the BBQ. At the time it felt almost like gatekeeping. Since I didn’t have this tool, or know this joinery technique, or used these nails I was wasting my time. Since I didn’t know how to do it perfectly the first time I was wasting my time. What kind of messed up toxic message is that?
At the end of the day, I enjoyed tinkering around and trying new things, developing a new hobby. At the time I had no real aspirations of generating income through woodworking. I was just a dude in the backyard with a saw and a vague idea. Looking back on it I am so grateful I just completely tuned out that person’s comments from the BBQ. When someone is just dipping their toe in the water of something new it is incredibly easy to squash that excitement. On the inverse it is so easy to help fan that flame into something bigger. Asking questions when someone is excited about a new interest, sharing in their joy, staying curious with them. If I had not had this growth mindset and paid more attention to the unhelpful comments I could have easily just stopped.
New hobbies are meant to be explored and played with. If you have a new talent, skill, hobby you’re getting into I hope you keep at it. I hope you are enjoying it and not listening to the voices critiquing you saying not good enough. I hope your chickens don’t escape.
