I’m most inspired by people who actually make things: the trades and crafts.

I have been staring at this prompt all day, trying to decide who truly inspires me. It’s the end of the day now and I still don’t have an answer. I don’t think I will find an answer this night or even into the morning.

It’s not that I am unable to find inspiration in the talents, skills and achievements of others. I just cannot think of a singular figure so radiant that they outshine all others.

I am however inspired by an entire class of people. I find working class, blue collar tradesmen to be not only inspirational, but aspirational. My inglorious inspiration is found in those commonplace men who do the commonplace jobs that cannot be replaced by AI agents; the men (and women) of ability who build and maintain the mundane realities of our lives.

Sadly much of our traditional tradecraft is soon to be extinct. I am genuinely inspired by those who continue in those trades, not because they are in demand but because they have a genuine love for the craft. Cobblers are all but extinct in my area. We have only one or two options for shoe repair. You might dismiss the entire notion of having your shoes resoled or repaired. For a lot of people shoes either are a commodity or a fashion statement and in either case, disposable. However, when your job requires specialty work boots that cost 500 or even 700 dollars, I’m sure you quickly recognize the value of having them recrafted at a fraction of the cost of replacing them.

So who inspires me? The carpenters, plumbers and electricians that build our homes. The butchers, the bakers and … the candlestick makers? All those men who feed us and give us light in the darkest night.

On a side note:

I’m fond of using words like man and men, or male pronouns to describe people generally; as in mankind, inclusive of women. This is because I’m an old man and that’s how I learned English in primary school many many years ago. However I find it somewhat telling that we used to say that cooking, cleaning and sewing were all examples “women’s work” … unless a man got paid to perform the very same tasks. Then we dignified those jobs with titles like chef, janitor, and tailor.