Grandma Tuni

Who knew I would become a vocabulary archeologist for a day, and on top of that, would find something worth sharing?

As I was innocently exploring my Greek ancestry via my late Grandma “Tuni” Fortune Levitch, I discovered a word that is used to describe doing work in an unusually cool way. That’s what initially intrigued me, and later; inspired me to look deeper. The word is meraki. Spelled like it sounds, it means to do something with passion, and soul.

To concentrate and create, leaving something of you behind in your work. From what I can tell, you can do anything with meraki. I was the beneficiary of learning how to work in this way from my father Ed Levitch, who successfully passed the drive to work with meraki on to us kids.

Tell me ’bout my roots, Daddy

Anxious to know more, I called him and interrupted an oatmeal breakfast. “Dad,” I said, “I learned meraki from you, who did you learn it from?” It took a bit for him to remember. He believes he learned it from a local woodworker as a teenager while he was being hidden from the Nazis by the resistance. My dad was terrified for his life, hiding in the outskirts of Yugoslavia, building caskets with meraki for the Nazi soldiers who had been killed in battle. Talk about ironic.

Dads ad

Dad and the family survived the Holocaust, and were liberated by Americans. He went on to use his talents to build a business and devote his life to remodeling in Berkeley, California. The footsteps I follow are his, my inspiration.

Tag, you’re it

As a father, I like to think that I passed the meraki way on to my kids, and I believe that my 3 brothers have done the same. Finding the word was very cool, and discovering that there is a similar concept in English was surprising, because it was not part of my vocabulary until now: “ardor,” or in British English “ardour.” Although not used much, it reminds me that every language recognizes a difference between just doing something, and doing it with love, soul, and passion.

Work ardor not harder! OK, I’ll stop now.

In my life, I have had the fortune to know many people who display a propensity to do work beyond average in a multitude of endeavors. I am drawn to them. I like to think that they, in turn, are attracted to me.  I would like to give a shout out to each of you, however there are too many to name. Stand up and take a bow, you know who you are. I’ll fist bump you all when I see you next.

What’s in it for you?

As a small business owner, I understand how dedicated and talented professionals with a healthy dose of meraki think and what makes them tick. Sure there are some egos involved, but hey, when you are great at something, and you do it with passion, why not? Sure, it takes a little longer sometimes to get it great. That’s where the ultimate value lies.

Ironically, we are often cast as if forced to choose between great and fast working in an instant gratification reality. Relax, Levco is spring loaded to do it right with soul, just like my daddy taught me.

As a client, or prospect, I am sharing with you that I get it, and that meraki is alive and well here in Boise, Idaho. I understand it, value it, and therefore I encourage and nurture meraki in my Levco reality. To say we have achieved a culture of meraki across the board might be premature, but to be sure, I do have a healthy culture brewing. Come remodel with us. Get a little meraki installed in your home.

Your comments are welcome. To ask questions or get more information about remodeling, click here to email me directly, or call 208-947-7261

If you or someone you know is considering remodeling or just wants to speak to a trustworthy remodeling contractor please contact me, you’ll be glad you did.