A Mason's Work

Relational mastery is not found in control, but in composure. In this episode, we explore how the Master Mason remains centered amid change — resilient, adaptive, and fluid. To move through disruption without losing equilibrium is the essence of stillness in motion. This is the posture of mastery: flow maintained not by isolation, but by inner stability.

🔑 Key Takeaways
  • True resilience is not rigidity, but the ability to move with change while staying aligned.
  • Relational mastery means maintaining presence even when the world demands divided attention.
  • The Master Mason flows with others and with circumstance, guided by internal equilibrium.
💬 Featured Quotes
  • 0:00:09 — “Relationally, the Master Mason’s perspective or role is very, very resilient.”
  • 0:00:26 — “We live in a world full of disruptions and distractions.”
  • 0:00:43 — “In the Master Mason’s flow state, you can process interruptions without losing your flow.”
  • 0:01:05 — “You are flowing with the materials you’re working with, flowing with the ideas you’re working out.”

Creators and Guests

Host
Brian Mattocks
Host and Founder of A Mason's Work - a podcast designed to help you use symbolism to grow. He's been working in the craft for over a decade and served as WM, trustee, and sat in every appointed chair in a lodge - at least once :D

What is A Mason's Work?

In this show we discuss the practical applications of masonic symbolism and how the working tools can be used to better yourself, your family, your lodge, and your community. We help good freemasons become better men through honest self development. We talk quite a bit about mental health and men's issues related to emotional and intellectual growth as well.

Relationally, the master mason's perspective or state or role or however you want to look

at it is very, very resilient.

And I say resilient because we live in a world that is full of disruptions, full of distractions.

When you are in a master mason's flow state, you can take those disruptions and interruptions

and demands for your attention.

And typically you can context switch very easily to handle and process those things without

losing your flow in the process.

And at the same time, you are flowing with the materials you're working with, you are

flowing with the ideas and concepts that you might be working out.

In this way, the master mason is understanding the relationships between themselves and

the work, between themselves and the external world, other disruptions, and between the work

and the resource demands and constraints of that work.

It's in this place where you become a master of the relationships as well as kind of the

work itself.

So we move from this really place of high skill to a place of high interaction, high interplay

and flow.

And this is present and occurring.

You'll find that you can effortlessly or near effortlessly process information and feedback

from the systems you're working with in.

And it doesn't completely throw you off the horse.

So you find, for example, you're working with a piece of wood and you run across a knot

that you hadn't discovered before or a piece chips out that you weren't prepared for when

you were in that place of mastery, you're relating to what has happened.

You're taking that input in a meaningful way.

You're able to process that, adapt, respond and continue to still create a quality piece

of work or what have you.

That kind of adaptability that comes with the master mason's sort of relational perspective

at level two kind of look into the work really is essentially it's not an isolation, right?

Whereas, you know, in the inner apprentice mason's fortifunction, it's much more isolated.

You can take feedback, but it's directional in its one way.

In a master mason's kind of perspective, you work with the sort of constraints and situations

and feedback that emerges from the systems you're working in.

And you're able to incorporate and integrate those disruptions and adversities and feedback

mechanisms.

And create actually better quality outcomes as a result.

It's not just mitigating, it's improving and going with those disruptions.

Same things true again in the legal field, same things true in the medical field.

These kinds of things when it comes to really meaningfully understanding the dynamics of

the environment you're working in and becoming a master craftsman with those dynamics, you're

able to create better outcomes even when adversity strikes or arises.

So if you're looking to kind of strengthen that capacity, again, it's simple guidance

is to go back to the fellow craft mason's degree or perspective, identify what is perhaps

holding you back or what's preventing you from incorporating this new data, this new

interruption, this new circumstance or adversity.

How can I best respond to this and still create the master work and then move back into the

master mason's perspective and proceed?

I think you'll find that this sort of perspective and context switching will be very useful

for you particularly if you're just kind of in that early master mason phase and they

are not in this past masters like full comprehensive understanding, you're still taking in some

of that new or feedback that earlier master mason's experience.

Again, that fellow craft perspective may help you nurture that and grow it further.