Working with purpose

In addition to leadership development, facilitation, and coaching, I’m also a photographer, woodworker, artist, and poet… and a few other things, depending on the day. Every day is a quiet decision about how much of each role to bring forward. And over time, I’ve noticed something: the more I make space for each of these identities, the more ‘whole’ I feel in all of them.

This weekend, I split a large piece of firewood I’d found on the woodpile. It left me with two thin, weathered pieces of hardwood. Both good candidates for splitting further and making thin pieces of kindling. Good to feed to a fire that is just starting. And thinking on this gave me pause. A different idea alit in my mind, as the wood seemed to carry more potential.

I brought them into the studio, not yet sure what they would become. Slowly, their purpose began to take shape: two shallow plates, hand-carved, warm to the touch, made to hold nourishment. I started in, and while they are not yet finished, they are already offering a sense of comfort and intention. It also made me excited to see their development unfold.

This process of discovering what a simple piece of wood can become, reminded me of the work so many of us do in personal growth. The questions we ask when we’re unsure of the next step, or when something in us wants to be reshaped. In those moments, I find it helpful to ask a simple question:

How can I be of use?

That question helps me locate both the art and the utility of the moment. It invites me to see myself not as a fixed identity, but as something still becoming. Just like the firewood, which could offer warmth, beauty, or sustenance, depending on how I choose to engage with it.

Here’s the haiku that came from this moment of stillness:

Split from the woodpile
to burn, to shape, or to hold?
I, too, have to choose.

‘Kireji moment’
The Artists Woodshed Studio

May that question be useful to you, too—whether you’re holding firewood or something entirely different.