Lonely career?

[Jarntagforge]

This question is aimed at all active blacksmiths who work alone each day. Does it get lonely? In almost all regular jobs you work in teams or with people, mostly. Except for truck drivers and such but in general.

I'm thinking of starting up a shop myself but I wonder if I would go insane. Standing alone in a room all day, no coffee break banter or anything.

I even started playing with the idea of opening up a simple cafe, maybe self-service, in my shop to get some people in there.

Lonely? How about as time goes on, a year, two years...

[JHCC]

A few things (and I'm speaking not as a full-time production blacksmith, but as a former cabinetmaker who has put in plenty of hours working alone):

First, running a café and running a production shop are two entirely different things. You do NOT want to be interrupting a forging process to ring someone up or restock the doughnut case.

Second, you're not becoming a Carthusian hermit. Chances are pretty good that you will still have plenty of chances to talk with other people.

Third, working alone in a shop is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. Without the constant chatter of media, computers, other people, all that stuff that bombards us all day, every day, you focus on the task at hand and nothing else. You will find that your ability to concentrate on the task at hand and on planning out the next series of sequential operations will improve dramatically. Plus (as my friend Fr. Marc, a lifelong monk in upstate New York, put it), there's nothing like working with your hands to bring you in touch with your subconscious mind. You may be surprised what you learn about yourself.

[Jarntagforge]

Thanks for the reply. Hey, that third point of yours actually sounds good. It would be like meditation, a peaceful safe haven in one's shop. Still I'd be interested in other people's answers. I visited one blacksmith the other day and he just wouldn't stop talking. He kept on going on about everything. Then I heard from another guy who met him in the gym that the blacksmith followed this guy around and explained Schwarzenegger's and Stallone's workout routines and so on, haha, same thing. Maybe he would be better off around people.

Although being cut off from the constant chatter, I think it can be equally beneficial to talk to people, interact, banter, be friendly. Of course you can do that after work too. It's just a dilemma I'm having. Right now I'm doing desk work with a colleague in the same room. Lots of good talk there, but the computer is getting tiresome.

[Steve Sells]

If you are worried about your sanity, then your in the wrong place. Here most of us worry about going SANE.

[ThomasPowers]

Steve; how would we ever know?   Nothing to compare it to to recognize that state...

IMNSHO more important is "can you stand working for yourself?"   I much prefer working for a large corporation and letting someone else deal with all the benefit issues, etc.

[Kozzy]

Not a smithing related experience but yes, it does start to feel like you are isolated when working alone.  I really miss some of the social aspects of a wide variety of workers around, especially the young ones (just past teen but still green to life). The youthful ones bring vibrance and often a good laugh to the workplace. I spent years working essentially alone before I got some staff..and recently let my staff go (through normal attrition, not firing) because of a family medical issue to made it impossible for me to keep them going while I was tied up.  Now that the issue is over, I find myself craving some interaction with people again.  But...

On the other hand, with no one around you can pick your nose and fart all you want (metaphorically, of course) or just take off and go fishing on a moment's notice when the day seems to be dealing you a bad hand.  So there are benefits that might to some outweigh the isolation.  There is some freedom attached to isolated business ventures.

Some people absolutely can't stand to be alone with themselves...they may think that the isolation will be no problem but it will eat them alive.  If you have more than a passing hesitation (which you expressed), don't dive into the isolation.  Make sure you have a lot of human interaction daily somehow--volunteer, get a side job, etc.  Self motivation can be a bear to overcome when working alone also but that's another issue in itself.  

[Frosty]

This isn't an all or nothing thing you know. Even when I was a lot more active in my shop I spent an hour or two at the coffee shop mornings solving the world's problems with the counter culture (coffee club) boys.

Smithing requires a person to make micrometric adjustments blow by blow and conditions change constantly. To be good you have to be in the zone. The Zone is an altered state of consciousness. Your subconscious and reflex mind run the tools, commonly known as "muscle memory" while your conscious mind directs. You have to learn to put your conscious mind in a compartment and let the rest do it's thing.

There is no difference between being in: The zone, An altered state of consciousness, Hypnotic state or meditating. It's all the same and in addition to being good for forging it's the same basic state your mind needs for problem solving at some levels, it's the same as "Sleeping on It."

Different problems lead to different states of mind. Some days I can lose myself in the work and walk away refreshed, irksome problems solved. Other states of mind and the Zone is the perfect place to brood and it's like poison to my soul. Those are the kinds of days I really need a gang of wise cracking guys keeping me going.

Hmmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Kozzy]

12 minutes ago, Frosty said:

This isn't an all Other states of mind and the Zone is the perfect place to brood and it's like poison to my soul. Those are the kinds of days I really need a gang of wise cracking guys keeping me going.

Hmmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

Well said.  Some days the "zone" really is a boiling stewpot of poison that is hard to shake.  That's actually one of the things my Dad taught me about the benefits of working alone: Some days are sort of "cursed"--better to write it off, do something else that soothes the mind, and come back to it another time.  Hard to do in a corporate world.

[ThomasPowers]

Depends on your job; I can work from home at will and have sick days and family emergencies covered.  I know a lot of self employed folks who went back to working way before they should have to keep the wolf from the door...On the other hand I sometimes work way more hours than a "normal" work week  with no extra pay.  And when I had an insulin crash and passed out on the job there were people around to call an ambulance...

[natenaaron]

 I work alone most of the summer.  Being a super shy introvert this suits me fine, most days.  The welder, who rents space from us, and I were talking the other day about working alone.  When you got stuff to do and you are moving you don't notice being alone.  When you got stuff to do and you are moving and someone comes in it really sucks, even if they are a client.  They interrupted your flow. Then there are the slow times when you either go stir crazy or clean.  Both of us agreed that cleaning is the order of the day then.  If the cleaning is done you sit in the comfy shop chair kick your feet up and take a nap.  Nothing wrong with this unless a customer comes in.  Then you feel a little guilty.  If I need human interaction I just go some place for lunch.  When I go back to teaching at the end of the summer, it takes a long time to get used to being around people.

You'll be fine. 

[WL smith]

My brother and I used to weld together. We would discuss a plan of attack and then do the job. These were mostly weird jobs. He was a better welder than me so I would do the fitting, or rolling pipe. We rarely spoke. Now with smithing I preferred working alone. As Kozzy above it is the zone!

[SpankySmith]

Like Nate said, it depends on your nature.  Like him, I'm very much an introvert, being around people all the time is mentally, physically draining for me.  I like to be around people in small doses, so working at anything, including and especially smithing, is something I prefer to do alone.  But if you're the extrovert type I could see where it'd drive you crazy after a time.  Most people in the working world are probably mis-matched - working around people all the time when they'd prefer not to, or stuck in a cubby somewhere when they'd prefer to be out and about with people.  Probably not unique to smithin'.

[Wayne]

I must admit I prefer working alone in the shop, its a ''my space'' so to speak and after a week of shifts at the hospital it is a quiet place for me to de-stress. Added to which, I normally have the local radio on and when a good song comes on NOBODY wants to hear me sing along or see me boogie round the anvil, some times crazy can be good......

[Donniev]

Depends on the person I guess. I quit my job and played online poker for my job for 6 months when I finally had the skill for it (fed gov shut it down, I was making money) and while it lasted I enjoyed it. If I was having a terrible start, I'd unregister from all my tournaments for the day and do something else. I enjoyed being alone for the most part, and to play mentally focused poker you have to be alone with no distractions, esp when your playing 20+ tables. Working with people again now is OK, but if they regulate poker and allow people in the States to play again I'll quit my job and go back. Working alone suits me best, but that obv will vary from person to person

[ausfire]

Working alone suits me fine, too. At least you don't have to be worried about being branded by a wayward piece of metal if someone's not looking where they are going. I like my space. I know where everything is and can move about without hindrance.

In my situation I am rarely alone for long, as we have a constant stream of visitors - but they remain behind the barriers, and apart from the (sometimes inane) chatter, their presence doesn't interfere with the flow of work. I just have to remember when answering a lengthy question to stop idly turning the blower - I've lost a few delicate pieces from inattention.

 

[VaughnT]

I love working alone.  I don't make anything close to a decent living as a smith, but I find the lack of people to be very refreshing.  In my other life, I always had to deal with a ton of drama generated by others.  Lies, gossip mongering, character assassination, basic incompetence.... you name it, I got to see it.  And the amazing part is watching the boss actually believe the tripe he's being fed by his inner circle.  There's a lot of truth to the old adage 'the king is judged by the court he keeps'.  

Now, the only problems that come up are the ones I create.  You still have to deal with people, and there will come a time when a customer causes some problems, but that's small potatoes compared to the constant warfare that goes on in other types of work.

Every time I get a bit lonely, I can always run to town and drink a few beers at the local watering hole.  That'll create enough drama to keep me going for another month or two!