I recall the first time I constructed a piece of furniture. The chest stood there assembled in its bigness. I felt the space it took up. And the awe of it standing next to the drawing I had made only four weeks ago. I realized, then, just how capable each and everyone of us are of taking nothing (a thought) and bringing it into the physical realm.

Now rewind a couple of months… I was a full-time researcher for a leading tech company. My days were spent at a desk creating virtual things—designing online experiments, analyzing data, writing reports, and giving presentations. Yet I had nothing tangible to bring into my physical world. My creative energy had disappeared into the void of ones and zeros. That void created a vacuum so powerful it pulled me from my desk and planted me at the bench. In a matter of months I was accepted and enrolled in a 9-month program at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. Today, I remain in Port Townsend and I continue to furnish the void with wondrously solid creations.