"Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may."Most mornings, I wake up before the sun and wander down to my office. As offices go, it's a humble place, a smallish room with a delightfully huge and beloved l-shaped desk, a giant birds nest chair for thinking, and an office chair that I sit in and not on, that seems just comfortable enough to make spontaneous naps possible.
Jon Stewart
After flipping on all my screens, computers and tablets and the one desk lamp, I find myself in the middle of a small pool off light within a deliberately darkened room, a quiet place where I rest my hands on my beloved keyboard - Apple, wired, with keypad - and pull words out of my head that, if the universe cooperates, will find their way to some pretty fascinating places.
I don't think I'm wired to do anything but write. It never feels like work, but at the same time there's a certain hierarchy of difficulty within the craft: Some pieces seem to write themselves, while others are decidedly more stubborn. Even when it's a struggle, being in this solitary place, with the light that splays out over the weathered wood of my desk and the well-worn keys of my keyboard, always feels strangely right, as if I belong here and nowhere else.
Perhaps Jon Stewart is on to something. Maybe we'd all be better off if we went back to base principles, found what we love, and focused on it. Maybe we all need a quiet, dimly lit place where we have the luxury of finding out precisely what that unique-to-us competency is.
Your turn: What do you love to do? Why?
You are so absolutely right (I've believed this all my life) looking at all the various jobs I've within my life. Everyone, connected to what I love, and involving people! Not stopping there, and venturing many steps beyond making a living, is doing what we love every other second of our days. I enjoy unearthing what I don't know. It seems even one excursion where I follow on the shirt tails of a tour guide, it always sends me to more research and more photo taking. Of course there's usually a child or more along to introduce them to these fascinating adventures that together we as the Knowledge Detectives (sometimes in (Super-Hero garb) dug up! If that isn't enough to keep us/me busy, bring out the finger paints, or play with my dogs! It's a win-win for all.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love doing most of all is caring for my family. I was blessed to be a Stay-at-Home-Mom for 22 years. It was an incredible time that I will always treasure.
ReplyDeleteI love to poke about at being artistic. I'm not particularly gifted, although I think there is a smidge of talent running through my being, but I do enjoy delving into photography and certain crafts. However, what I love doing doesn't support myself or my family financially, so there are other things that take up my time.
Whatever we do, I hope it involves pieces of ourselves -- if not our whole selves-- that bring satisfaction and joy.