A waller’s exterior realm consists of stonework’s harsh reality. There is a lot of heavy lifting involved. The paradoxical answer to “Why do such hard labor?” would be “Because after lifting I’m left lighter.” If feeling lighter is the point of lifting, what’s gained by setting a stone? Choosing, lifting and placing a stone is a manageably difficult job. Done one stone after another, hundreds of times during a work day, adds up to the creation of an object. But more importantly, it builds a series of satisfactions for the practitioner. Those many small goals attained accumulate and settle in the psyche as happiness.

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