Past-Life Job Quiz
Woodturner
You move from mountain to mountain in search of good wood, quietly turning it on the lathe into bowls.
In Japan, woodturners called kijishi used a lathe to turn bowls, trays and other vessels out of wood. They're known for moving from mountain to mountain as they worked, in search of trees suited to their craft. It was a job that needed both an eye for wood and skilled hands.
If you lived that life before, you probably still enjoy both being somewhere new and making things with your hands. You lose track of time more when you're working with materials and tools than when you're talking with people.
When good wood grew scarce on one mountain, it was on to the next. For a woodturner, making and moving were one continuous life. You, too, may want to change your place or even your tools when what you're making changes. But where there are many arrangements with other people, that lightness can be hard for them to understand.
Strengths
- You can tell good materials and tools from bad by touch
- You can keep working alone, quietly, for a long time
- Even somewhere unfamiliar, as long as you have your tools, you can get down to work
Where you may stumble
- Once you get into your work, you forget to reply to messages
- You tuck away finished pieces before showing anyone
- If you can't find materials you like, it's hard to get started
Sounds familiar, Woodturner?
- On trips, you linger in shops selling local pottery and crafts
- You can't bring yourself to throw away an offcut of wood with a beautiful grain
- Half of your boxes when you move house are tools
Where you shine
Making things from scratch by hand, getting something started in a new setting, and looking after or repairing things.
Tips for “Woodturner”
- Take a photo of something you made and show just that one to someone
- Before you start work, deal with the messages that need a reply
- In a new place, first find the tool shop and the materials shop
Matches
See every match in the Past-Life Job Quiz compatibility chart →
Peddler — A Peddler carries what you make to the people who want it. A Woodturner's bowls end up in towns you never imagined.
Tailor — A Tailor also makes things by hand. Hearing how a Tailor makes each piece to suit the wearer reminds a Woodturner, who tends to focus on things, of the faces of the people who'll use them.
Scribe — A Scribe likes to keep to the same desk and the same steps. The lightness of a Woodturner who moves, tools and all, can look restless to them.
Close neighbors
These differ from this one on just 1 of the 3 axes. If one of your axes was near the middle, you may have their side too.
Which one are you? 18 everyday situations, about 3 minutes.
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