The Real and the Dream

I do not know if it is common to blend a construction drawing with a photo as I am doing for this project. It works for me. First I took the photo, then in the paint program, I used the eraser to remove the concrete deck. I put the photo on my drawing board and drew in the existing grade of the deck. The line below that represents what the grade should be. Evidently the existing slab was installed on top of the original porch deck. The existing porch deck is a couple of inches above the thresholds of the doors. With the grade established I have begun constructing the new deck, starting with the addition of drains. They are drawn slightly below the grade. The drain configuration is subject to change depending on how the slab is done. But for the meantime this is a reasonable representation of my desire.

This project comes to life through application of the imagination. I feel the project moving forward. I feel progress just as surely as if I were out there watching workmen going at it. I see the new construction emerging as sculpture. I hear the workmen jabbering and the machinery running and scraping. I touch a shovel handle. I smell the porta- potty. I taste the water from the orange keg. I'm out there sweating under the hot sun and it is happening. The action of wrestling with the drawings is dispelling the negative defeatism. When I can completely overcome my unbelief, I will be ready for the actual construction, somehow. By then I will have the completed plans firmly in mind and the plans will be crystal clear. When the actual construction begins, sound plans will give me a better chance of coming in on time and under budget, because I will have already encountered and overcome the problems involved. So it seems the imagination, through some mysterious process, is essential to achievement of restoration. A thing becomes real in your mind and through some mysterious process, the Infinite Intelligence manifests the thing concretely.

A Driving Lesson of the Imagination

My Dad gave me a great gift. He taught me to be an expert driver. My Dad retired from the Marine Corps. He was a pilot and in his words his primary mission was, "...flying the drunk Generals around..." He had an excellent service record and I possess his log books. He communicated to me my driving degree in no uncertain terms. I learned to drive as if piloting a transport plane. When he communicated lessons I was expected to absorb, retain and apply his lessons, or suffer the consequences.

I recently helped my son Sam get his drivers license and my technique is more compassionate, though no less thorough. He doesn't have his own vehicle yet, so he is still in my province while he drives my truck. Therefore, the driving lessons continue until he is fully emancipated. Yesterday we had opportunity to review navigation. He drove as we went out to run some errands. Before we ever left on our expedition I had the trip in mind. If I didn't find the object of my search at the first destination, we would proceed to our secondary destination in a logical, gas saving, manner. If the secondary destination came up empty we would proceed to the third destination. In my mind I plotted a course, from point "A", to point "B", to point "C". I created this route in my mind using my imagination. From this equation I could give fair estimates of traffic volume, time, mileage and fuel requirements. Because of my father’s training I was able to create this calculation in moments. Then my imagination presented my mind with a clear picture of our expedition. Incidentally, this picture could readily be modified to accept changes in the plan like one can cut and paste on a computer.

The first store didn't have what I was seeking so we proceeded to the next stop. Sam is a good driver but he still has a way to go to be proficient. Questioning Sam, I was assured he did not have his way firmly in mind. I must admit I was testing him. I only told him the names of the stores I wanted to visit and I watched as he struggled with navigation. My desire is to know he can navigate life with confidence. As we drove we talked about when he was a toddler and how as a toddler he did not have the ability to order a hamburger and fries at the fast food outlet. The faculty of imagination is generally not developed sufficiently in toddlers for them to do such a task. I think that if I walk into a familiar fast food establishment I should already have a fair idea of what I want. I am critical of grown- ups who stand in a line with a menu board in front of them and have no idea what they want when it is their turn to order. I lose patience. Use your imagination, people! Geeze!

So navigating traffic from point "A" to point "B", the imagination is utilized to create a route. This is not hard to do. In the matter of navigation while driving one is forced to use the imagination to get where one desires to go. You needn't bother yourself with baseless fears of trouble along the way. Simply fix the destination and course in the imagination, make sure you have everything you need, and then off you go. You cross those bridges when you come to them. The imagination is there to be used to make life better. The imagination is like a muscle which works better the more it is used. How could you get in a car and go anywhere without the imagination?

The imagination is applied to every achievement. If I desire so and so, then begin to draw up plans to accomplish so and so, like a puzzle, pieces crop up that don't fit, or pieces are missing. The imagination further informs of ways and means to make a fit or to create the missing pieces. Sitting where you are right now, you can imagine a specific door far away you wish to open; a specific threshold you wish to cross. Maybe a restaurant where you and yours enjoyed a memorable meal on vacation. You know you can do this. You must use your imagination to do so. Am I right? The great secret of life that thoughts become things is this use of the imagination to create in your mind a desired objective.

I have completed the first set of drawings for the restoration of the porch on our house. By doing so I am confronted with the knowledge that the project isn’t as I first imagined. This doesn’t mean it is any more difficult or impossible. I do realize I will need some expert help. I can’t just tear out the old porch and pour in some new concrete and think that all will be well. Matter of fact my imagination informs me that this is the cause of the failure of the porch deck. The Concrete caps of the porch wall will also be demolished and replaced in form similar to the caps on the columns.

Positive belief and a thrill of expectation rises as the imagination yields knowledge and understanding. The book of Proverbs says that when understanding enters into your heart it is sweeter than honey. And, that wisdom is more desirable than the choicest gold. At the moment, everything on the porch looks the same, but in my mind this project is alive and real. This transformation is taking place in my mind with the aid of the imagination. I see the workmen out there in Carhart coveralls and dirty work boots busting out the old porch. I see them with the excavation equipment digging out the old fill. I see the bricks which have been removed cleaned and neatly stacked in preparation of the new construction. I see capable men who consult the plans and build with the mastery of their trades. I see the front porch restored to endure beyond our lives. I see the property value rising proportionately. I see us enjoying life with gladness of heart on our porch with family and friends. Restoration!

Intangible Thought Becoming Concrete Reality

Thoughts become things. The Maple Street Town Homes are thoughts becoming things. The first unit is taking concrete form and soon on these three blocks will stand the homes which began as a simple, intangible thought. This is a testament to and a demonstration of the power of thought. One sound thought began to attract other related thoughts and then the thoughts began to manifest.

That thoughts become things is a law to be utilized by those who dream of better things to come. I dream of effecting the restoration of our house into a home that showcases the highest restoration standards set forth in the National Parks Service Preservation Briefs. I believe in my dream and even though all my income in the past ten years would not suffice to cover the required expenditure, I will exercise my right to apply the law of attraction to my benefit. Following the example of the Maple Street Town Homes I will continue detailed plan making. I will simply suggest to myself that there is some power or force that aids and instructs me in the most simple and direct manner to make my thoughts of this restoration real. I will constantly affirm my conviction until my thoughts crystallize into absolute belief that this house will become as I dream it to be. I see in my mind's eye my receiving income sufficient to effect the restoration. I see myself producing the detailed plans. I see handing off my detailed plans to contractors who will in turn do the work to make my thoughts real. I see myself writing the checks to pay for it all. I will turn every negative circumstance into stepping stones to the new reality. I will conduct myself as though I already have the money in the bank until that becomes reality.

This law, that thoughts become things, is what I profess and demonstrate on this blog. Maybe like me, you who are reading, you have had a tantalizing taste, an inkling of this law at work in your life. I will take a chance to expose myself to prove this great universal truth. From my demonstration you will gain wisdom and inspiration. You will receive the guidance you require for whatever it is that you desire of life.

Side Porch Demolition

This is my first drawing for construction. It is for the demolition work of the concrete slab on the side porch. The photo doesn't reveal the very poor conditions. Careful planning enables one to edit the thoughts; cut the negatives and paste the positives. The mind is strengthened to the task. Careful planning helps reveal gaps and unsound ideas. The imagination can more easily be employed for discovery of workable solutions.

In the storehouse of my imagination I have snippets of ideas on how to do drawings for this project. I have experienced a thrill to just get this far. I want what I want and I have made do with the tools I have at my disposal. The two pictures here seemed like an easy thing to do when this was just an idea floating around in my mind. Production of the doctored photo took some patient, determined plugging away to achieve. One observation I make is that by employing my imagination my mind more easily accepts the achievement idea and I feel a thrill. This is an urge to keep going. As far as I am concerned this demolition work is already a reality. Even though the failed concrete slab is still there I "feel" real progress. I will need clear drawings and sound plans for submission to the Historic Commission for approval of my project.

With digital format ability I can take this photo- drawing to my board and with "T" square and triangle draw in the new construction details. I like the masonry metaphor of building stone upon stone, each laid level and true. This is the way to apply the imagination for building sound plans of any achievement, idea by idea. In other words, "Thoughts become things". The physical properties of the house have not changed an iota. As far as anyone else can tell there is no restoration of the porch in progress. This first step taken, I "FEEL" that the project is under way and, my growing desire and faith will make it real rather than "...WHEN I CAN GET THE MONEY...". This is my restoration leap of faith.

What's Next

I made a decision about my desires to restore this house as "THE" restoration project of my life. I have more than enough obstacles in my life to destroy this dream. Repair of the brick work alone is intimidation aplenty to destroy my faith.
(By the way, that old K-5 Blazer belongs to my son Sam and is available for sale. It is a great restoration project for the right person and can be had for a good price.) I want to document my state of mind throughout the restoration of our house. Time has passed since my decision and my euphoria has cleared. The enormous task shows no movement. But I can't go weak in the knees now.

I went to my files to post what little I have in the way of drawings related to the work I desire to perform and none of them were in an acceptable format to publish here. I wanted to post a story describing in detail what I plan to do. I drew a blank. I have experienced a great thrill to learn how thought is clarified and condensed through the process of writing and rewriting and rewriting some more. So I have discovered a roadblock to my creative process. I posses only a vague idea of my desire to restore this house. No concrete plans to speak of. I will have to learn how to produce drawings which can be published to my blog if I am to show progress. This is relatively easy, because I now know what to do next. I theorize that by forcing myself to produce clear-cut plans, other opportunities will arise that will help me to start solving all the problems which stand in my way. I will receive strength to overcome the hurdles. My way will be made clear to me. I hope this information will be helpful to you. I pray I may be quickened in mind, body and spirit.

Table Service Available Here

Until Becky and I rediscovered each other I mostly worked alone and was alone. I imposed upon myself a solitary existence. This condition is not especially healthy or normal, but this condition has been my journey, nevertheless. I performed work for people who had lives. I was the proverbial fly on the wall. I had no life but to do for people whose lives I observed. I think I was stuck and I was hoping for the day when the right person would come along to share in a new life with me. I hoped and dreamed and planned and reserved for that life to come. In the meantime I did paint work for a lot of good people.

That dream was so clear to me I could define and summarize it like this: "I desire a table furnished in righteousness". A table must have a home and a home is for people. Maybe what I express is confusing. The table and the home to which I refer are not a physical table and a physical house. I mean the table and the home of human hearts. Without human hearts a table is just a piece of furniture. When human hearts share in the breaking of bread, there is the table I reference. No furniture is required. When human hearts shelter together, there is the home. No construction is needed. And so, in all my work, my guiding principle has been that I serve the tables of my customers. My dream was to belong to a living table myself. Much to my surprise my dream of restoration came into existence in a moment on a certain day when, by chance, Becky and I were reunited.

Looking back I observe, that through my fixation on this idea of a table and a home, my dream first found life in my heart. There was some mysterious transformation of my emotional estate that brought into reality, or manifested, what had been born in my heart by my thoughts. Taking an old house that has been lived in to death and restoring that house to new life and purpose is a metaphor of a human experience. My condition was like a house run down and vacated. Through an idea and a dream I have been restored to new life and purpose. Experience of restoration transformation is my template for writing this blog. As 'Bob the Painter' I am privileged to be an agent of change for people. I have a responsibility to ensure the change I bring is for the good.

People call Bob the Painter when they are in need. For a house to long survive requires maintenance and at times requires restoration in whole or in part. Whether the need is just a coat of paint to freshen the walls or whether the need is for major renovation, restoration can come about. I will serve your table.

No Status Quo

There is a process of discovery on every road to restoration. Restoration is a journey. The journey begins when we decide that current conditions are undesired and longing for a better day has translated into action of some sort. By now we know running off helter- skelter is indeed like the proverbial headless chicken. Sometimes one seeking this restoration can feel like a prisoner trying to break out. He runs and hides and runs some more but soon the law catches up and he is returned to his chains if he's not shot on sight. Now I am old enough to have observed the secret that thoughts become things. I have made my life what it is today. If I am unsatisfied, I simply must change the habits of my thought.

My Aunt A.G.'s husband, Uncle Lou, taught economics in a college out in California. The last time I saw Uncle Lou I asked him, "Uncle Lou, is there one fundamental principle of economics you can tell me?" Without hesitation Uncle Lou replied, "There is no such thing as the status quo. You are either going forward or backward, rising or falling, gaining ground or losing ground. Any way you want to put it, there is no status quo." So the secret that thoughts become things is really no secret at all. It is constantly before our eyes. The circumstances of my life plainly declare the nature of my thoughts. If there is anything difficult about restoration, it is this recognition of self.

My condition is similar to this house. I have managed to recover somewhat from the ignorance and blind ambition of my youth. I may think life is livable but I must force myself to continually think toward further restoration and improvement. The good news is that this road to restoration, to recovery, isn't a death march. It may be the road less traveled, to borrow from Robert Frost. It is the adventure of a lifetime; my lifetime, your lifetime, whatever your road. Fear of what may lie ahead on this way must be replaced by faith and enthusiasm of exciting adventure. We don't travel alone for all of the great minds have left their marks along this way.

I borrowed the picture in this post from the NPS preservation brief on repair of masonry. Three stones laid together bound by a handsome mortar joint. That is some fine restoration work. I desire a life this solid if this be a fitting figure. I desire the restoration of our house to be this solid all the way through. I believe I have brought myself to this place to bring to bear all of my previous experience to effect a similar, rock solid, restoration. Thought charged positively immediately translates to positive effect. Stone by stone, thought by thought a wonderful house takes shape to shelter good life.