Just got the book How to Find the Work You Love from Paperbackswap and already finding it resonating. A brief passage:
Ultimately, the discovery of a life’s work begins with the realization of what it means to be a human being — embracing what binds us all together and appreciating what makes each of us unique. As long as we deny that we are social beings and ignore the needs of the world, we miss the sense that our work is meaningful. We feel cut off, lonely, and alienated. As long as we deny our individuality and fail to develop and express our unique talents and gifts, we miss the joy of creative self-expression. We feel frustrated, repressed, and trapped. Simply put: To the extent that your work takes into account the needs of the world, it will be meaningful; to the extent that through it you express your unique talents, it will be joyful.
We are constantly pushed by this society to produce more, consume more, work harder. But when are we encouraged to be more creative, to be more joyful, to truly take a look at what the world may need and how our skills might match it?
So here are some of my current needs, which I can’t find anyone to provide and would love to pay someone to help me with:
I would love to have an art mentor, someone willing to share their skills with me without trying to “fix” me the way an art therapist does, or force their techniques on me the way many art and craft teachers seem to do.
I would love to have someone I can learn from about how to breed puppies and raise service dogs, that doesn’t demand that I devote all my free time to raising a service dog right this moment or want to charge hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a dog.
I would love to find someone who likes gardening and would help me redesign my garden landscape without charging me a small fortune.
Studio space to use one or two days a week.
Someone to come design and build built-in bookcases and not charge me a small fortune.
Here are some services I HAVE paid for:
An organization service provided by a friend called “Clutter Therapy” that helped us weed a lot of the crap out of our house and organize the rest of it.
Various art and craft classes offered by individual friends as well as the local craft store – would just as happily go to someone’s home or studio.
Beautiful handmade items sold at craft fairs and online at places like Etsy.
Here are some skills I have that I need to learn how to market better:
Software and business process design – would particularly like to work with smaller local businesses to help them define and restructure their processes to be more successful. I am not very good at marketing myself, however. I tend to find work either through headhunters finding my resume, or search services like Dice.com.
Tao. I am never sure how one would go about “teaching” the Tao, and would certainly not ever charge for it. But I have found it brings me more peace of mind that anything I’ve ever found in my life. I get a real thrill whenever someone tells me they “discovered” the Tao through my blog!
Golden Retrievers. I really want to turn my love of goldens into a business, eventually having a golden retriever ranch and raising goldens as service and companion dogs.
Native Plants. I keep another blog, Native Growers, that I once wanted to turn into a business linking Native Plant growers, landscape designers, and customers. The people I was trying to put this together with lost interest and moved on to other things, so these days it’s just a blog.
Natural health care and cosmetics. Antoher business idea was to start a store featuring natural health care and cosmetic products, as well as local artist’s jewelry and work. I figured out it would probably kill me to have to be in one place all day long, though.
So anyway, I have lots of ideas, but — I never really seem to find the motivation to pull these ideas off. And I’ve spent many years as a consultant. I know how to do it when I “have” to, but not how to pull things together when I want to.
Which isn’t to say other things in my life have come to me easily. I’ve had a wonderful 21 year Marriage (our 22nd anniversary is coming up April 28th). But it certainly hasn’t always been great, and at times, it’s been very painful. At other times, it is incredibly joyful. I’ve raised two kids, certainly always a mixed experience. Even pets are sometimes sick and eventually, we do lose them, which brings us great sadness. I’ve lost my parents, several friends, and had my share of heartaches.
So I don’t expect work to always be wonderful or fulfilling. I do expect, though, that all of us need to be involved in creative work that we love to do, or else it is simply a job. And I don’t need a job, I need something that goes far beyond that. There isn’t a pressing financial need for me to work, or to make myself unhappy doing it. But the need to express myself creatively is there, and the desire to make a difference in the lives of others is there.
What’s left is to find the missing pieces of this puzzle. And I doubt that this time, they are in my business professor’s pocket. (One of my professors used to have groups of students put a puzzle together as an exercise. The final piece was in his pocket, and you had to figure out to go ask him for it. It was to teach us to talk to the customer when trying to figure out the problems in a process). This time, they’re most likely hiding in my pocket.
One Response
I suppose I found your blog through the Tao, in a way, and in doing so rediscovered the Tao. Or something like that. In reading through your entries I’ve come to really respect what you have to say. You seem very genuine to me.
As for the things that you can’t find anyone to provide. I’m by no means a seasoned cabinetmaker or gardener (I’m young, though, and I have plenty of time (and plans) to learn), but if you would be willing to give me friendship, a floor to sleep on, and maybe some food here and there, as well as provide materials, I would love to come and help you build bookshelves and gardens this summer. In return I will give friendship, fun, music, and the aforementioned bookshelf gardens. I have no idea where you live or how I would get there, and I’m leaving for Germany for a year at the end of July, so this probably isn’t a practical plan, but if it would work out it will happen.
Just send me an e-mail if you get a chance, and maybe we can work something out.