Skill 🐱‍👤

The quest for mastery.

Any skill has value beyond its application or its ability to be traded as a commodity. The hidden value can't be perceived by the uninitiated—it is something which only the practitioner can experience internally.

The value exists as an intuitive conversation between mind, body and tool. A conversation that you only earn the right to experience through a dedication to practice, cultivated and refined through repetition to form a connection to the past and present to give a sense of progress.

No application or purpose is necessary; the act of manipulation is itself a complete and meaningful pursuit.

Regardless of whether you apply it or not, whether you share it or not, a skill provides you with a lifelong medidative exercise and the ability to connect with others who also practice its rituals.

When you no longer think about your execution and the principles become as easy as breathing... manipulation has become meditation.

Adapted from Benjamin Earl's micro essays.