Someone in my old meditation group posed the question when considering what occupation she wanted to pursue. The discussion was loosely based on virtuous careers (if there is such a thing), and how to balance between living a peaceful life and existing in the real world. I'm struggling in my present job because it seems so unnecessary and redundant. Simply put, I find it boring. But then as I say to my son, "if you're bored, it's because you are the one who is boring." I need to find a new way to conceptualize my work.
So today, I stumble across this quote from Howard Thurman. I'd never heard of him before, which was a surprise to me. When I was growing up, my parents were determined to instill cultural awareness throughout our home. My mother made sure we never missed a Jet, Ebony, Right On! or Essence when I was growing up. My father made sure we had the Call & Post every Thursday, which is still today Ohio's leading black newspaper. I'm sure I read something of him, but it didn't stick. According to the always reliable Wikipedia, Mr. Thurman was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. I thought what does the world need was a big question. But now I think what makes me come alive is so much bigger and way more relevant.
Off the top of my head what makes me come alive is being creative. Being creative, thinking creatively, repairing or building, cooking, reading, learning are all things that make me feel engaged and plugged in. Recently, I've been really frustrated with the buildup of dog hair in the house. My vacuum didn't seem to be picking up all of the hair. I would find myself on my hands and knees with masking tape trying to remove the excess hair the vacuum just rolled right over. Considering the entire house except the kitchen and baths are carpeted, you can imagine how frustrated I was. Especially since my vacuum is a Bissell Animal Carpet Vac. I bought it for the express purpose of keeping my dog. It was really discouraging. That Dyson jerk kept popping up in my head, but I refuse to give him $500 dollars because he likes his balls.
Now with the holidays, I felt really ashamed to have folks come for a visit. I decided to take a look at the vacuum; broken belt, clogged filters, duh!! Off to the big blue box, spend $25 bucks, tinker, tinker, crack, fix...brand new-live vacuum!! Ta-da!! I was so happy, I vacuumed every inch of carpet I could find. I was genuinely proud of myself for doing what I should have done anyway. Very simple task, but it affected the quality of life in my home. Or maybe just in my mind. But to me it's the same difference. And the dog stays.
