The Art & Science of Skillful Living ®

LIFECRAFT ®

Companion User's Guide

PART FOUR
The Four Phases of Living

Each of the 4 phases of life as a craftsperson has a definite purpose. And, while each phase is independent, they must be taken together as a whole to live life fully as a craftsperson. That is to say; skillfully. Each, has a defined beginning and ending. Each phase has its own goals and objectives.

We can only offer you general guidelines, and not hard and fast laws. Each person is free to make his or her own judgments regarding the particular elements of each phase. For example, exactly when one phase ends and another begins can only be determined by each individual as they measure their own life with the standards they live by as craftspeople. A woodworker does not measure her readiness to proceed according to the standard of the metalworker. Each proceeds according to his own natural rhythm.

Another point might be the goals and objectives of each phase. These too can be modified and moved around as culture or circumstances may accelerate some phases, and slow others intentionally.

PHASE I: APPRENTICESHIP

Apprenticeship is defined as: "The specific period of time during which one learns to comprehend the nature of the raw materials of life, and the skillful use and application of the tools of the craft."

Formal apprenticeship for most crafts, occupations and professions begins at the dawn of adulthood about age 12-14, and continues on into the early years of adulthood age 18-22. This can vary depending upon certain situations and circumstances such as formal career or vocational training, or other life responsibilities which may have to be taken up sooner than later in some cases.

The important point about the phase of apprenticeship is to clearly define the curriculum; "what is to be learned." The truth is a great many of us never complete the range of study and practice properly required of an apprentice in the craft of life. And for many of us for reasons beyond our control, find ourselves feverishly trying to play "catch up" while we learn vital skills "on the fly". A painful experience for all of us who have had to practice the craft of life not fully prepared to meet the challenges.

Apply your energies to offer a young apprentice the best curriculum you can. A well planned and laid out apprenticeship will make a significant difference in his and her future quality of life.

PHASE II: JOURNEYWORK

Journeywork comprises the many years of work performed after apprenticeship toward becoming a Master. More particularly, it is the time when a craftsperson distinguishes him or herself by earning their way in life by their craftwork. In other words, having learned to "stand on your own two feet." It is a time lasting approximately twenty five years more or less.

There are many able bodied persons who go through life never having accepted the Journeywork phase. They drift in and out of dependence on one person or institution or another, never fully being either willing or able to take responsibility for their own existence. This does not include those who are truly not able to care for themselves.

Those who consciously embrace their Journeywork will find it is a phase filled with wide ranging contrasts; famine and feast, love and war, hope and despair. It is the time we raise our young families, practice our vocations, plant seeds for future harvests, try to make ends meet, and come face to face with the reality that the journey is indeed more arduous and full of more perils and opportunities than we had first imagined from within the inexperienced and structured world of our apprenticeship.

This phase is indeed a journey of work. It is a test of endurance. A repetitive routine of often imperceptible gains punctuated by storms and at times fair winds that lift us out of our travail to remind us that there is both a destination and a purpose for the journey.

If it were a season, Journeywork would probably be summer. Unlike the springtime of apprenticeship, whose tender blossom gives way to the greening leaf, Journeywork bears the full heat of the day on its back to produce the food to nourish and sustain through autumn and winter.

Journeywork takes strength, endurance, and reliance upon ones apprenticeship training and growing experience to complete the work in the craftsperson's way; full pleasure comes not only from what has been created: the finished work itself, but from the manner in which it has been done.

PHASE III: MASTERWORKS

The Masterworks phase can be characterized as the finishing phase of works which may be the culmination of years of journeywork to distinguish oneself as a craftsperson. What primarily distinguishes works performed during this phase whether begun during the journeywork years, or brand new, is that they are works of fulfillment.

Journeyworks are by and large required works; infrastructural works like the main support beams in a building. They are done to meet the primary requirements of the job; to lay down the foundation. It is not to say that foundation works cannot be superior displays of one's craftsmanship. In fact, some of life's greatest "masterpieces" are the results of the "required work" performed during the journeywork phase.

Masterworks on the other hand, are those which may be thought of as artistic works. The outcome being pure expressions of the craftperson's making, not so different from the finish work of decorating the home one has spent half a lifetime to build.

This phase can be one of the most trying of all for it requires planning, resources and energy. If not planned for in advance, it becomes a time of disappointment and heartache as the "life" which stands structurally finished, lays empty of furnishings and comforts lacking purpose and motivation.

Many men and women approaching their 50's, who after striving through their journeywork years arrive at the threshold of Masterworks only to be confronted with painful questions: "What has it all been for? What shall I do with the rest of my life after having given "my best years" to the company or raising a family, or having been the faithful spouse? What's there for me to do now?" and many more questions like these.

For the craftsperson of life the Masterworks phase is a very dynamic time. It is the time in one's life after having struggled to master oneself and the unstable world around us that one is still young enough and energetic, yet old enough to have wisdom to achieve great heights.

Masterworks is the time for polishing your life -- your "ultimate masterpiece." Where journeywork is the time of giving form, definition and substance to your life, Masterworks is the period of "finish carpentry." All the thousand details put right that make the difference between a job begun, and a job well finished. You will need the years of Masterworks to accomplish the apparently simple task of adjusting here, smoothing there, cleaning up this or that, and finishing what you've started before you are ready to enter the final phase of LIFECRAFT: Mentorship.

PHASE IV: MENTORSHIP

In Greek mythology, Mentor was the trusted friend of Odysseus and the tutor of Telemachus, Odysseus' son. During the Trojan War, Odysseus entrusted the care of his household to Mentor.

Today, Mentor has become a reference to "one who is a trusted advisor". It does not take a lifetime to become a trusted advisor; one into whose hands something of great value can be placed without fear that it will be mishandled; and one who can offer guidance and expect nothing in return.

There are many opportunities and circumstances when we are called upon to mentor to another who is facing a challenge and needs a trusted advisor. But these situations as they may appear from time to time earlier in our lives are lasting only for a moment. After all, we ourselves are engaged full-time in Apprenticeship, Journeywork or Masterworks which place our own lives as the daily center of attention. It is not yet the full time of Mentorship when we can turn our attention from the constant call of the "I" to "Thou".

The Mentor is the source of nourishment for a new season. The autumn of days giving back to the earth the Elements that fertilize the next Spring and of young lives coming full circle. The elders of our families are the Mentor's if we accept them and if they accept their Mentorship. It is a partnership between the generations bound by love and respect.

There is no less need today for Mentors to guide us all as craftspeople through the challenges of each Phase of life from Apprenticeship, to Journeywork, into Masterworks.

Go Forward to Part V

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