The Color of Work

“Be the flame, not the moth.” 

(Giacomo Casanova)

I work 24/7 - I am always working. I work from the moment I arise, until I fall asleep, and then I work through the night. Here's the kicker - I am wildly, passionately crazy about work. 

I suppose it would be desirable to shed a little light on this as it sounds as though I'm a workaholic with a horribly unbalanced life. So, if you'll indulge me, I'll tell you a story.

In times past I upheld adages such as, "I am not my work, it just what I do," or "find a work/life balance." When I parted ways with Anna in the morning I might say - "I'm off to work." It was as though my life were fragmented into bits - some bits had to do with "working Bill," and others had to do with "home-life Bill." This began to sit uncomfortably with me.

Well, in this last year I realized that this is all a bunch of silliness. I looked in the mirror one day, and there smiling back at me was... well, me. Just one of me. And suddenly I understood my work. 

“I want to know what passion is.

I want to feel something strongly.” 

(Aldous Huxley, Brave New World)

My work, that is, the "effort engaged to achieve a purpose or result" (dictionary), is to open myself as thoroughly as I can, at any given moment, to the flow of Love through my being. In contemplating this I realize that no matter what I am doing, where I am, or who I am with, my single purpose is to be a healing presence in our world.

Sometimes Love pours through in my role with Hospice; sometimes it pours out upon Anna and our family; sometimes it is with friends, or at a community event. Often it is being reflected back to me in self-care. Thus, even sleep is a part of my work, for it is then that Love pours into my being to nourish and rejuvenate me.

As I am by no means an enlightened being, and often slip into sleepiness in my self-awareness, sometimes it does not look like this endeavor of opening myself up to Love is working out very well. Thank goodness for grace. Even the sleepy times, the forget-who-I-am times, are a part of Love at work; the Love of grace holding me when I cannot find my way back to remembering who I am.

“If you have a strong purpose in life,

you don't have to be pushed.

Your passion will drive you there.” 

(Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart)

This view of work reminds me of my farmer friends. Farming is there life, it is not simply something they do (at least, that is my perspective on most of the farmers I know). Farming is how they be in this world, it is how they engage their day, and their night. So too for me - intending to be a healing presence is how I engage this world - it is the work of my heart and soul. 

What is the work of your heart and soul? As you enter your day, what is Love doing through you to grow this world, to unfold it and and make it flower? 

Be mindful of where the river is taking you; lay down your paddle and trust the current. Sometimes Love will pour through you in your vocation, sometimes with your friends and family. Love will pour through you in your community, with strangers, and in quiet moments when you are filling your tank. And when your head rests upon your pillow, Love will pool in your being until the morning light.

I leave the last word to Ridhdhesh Jivawala:

“We got life to live, not to survive;

do the things you always want to,

be the person you always desire to be...”

(Ridhdhesh Jivawala)

The color of work...

the song of our soul.

I picked up a shovel

and in my hands

it became

a hole

for a tree

for an apple

for a pie

for a gathering

of tears

and laughter

and healing

All from a shovel...

and a little work

Breathe

Work

Be

To Ponder Further:

- From the Bible: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters..." (Colossians 3.23)

- Zoroastrianism: "Do you keep your feet, hands, intellect ready, O Mazdayasni Zoroastrians, in order to practice lawful, timely, well-done deeds, in order to undo unlawful, untimely, bad-done deeds. Let one practice here good industry; let one make the needy prosperous." (Avesta, Visparad 15.1)

- From Sikhism:

"One who claims to be a saint,
And goes about begging - Touch not his feet!
He whose livelihood is earned through work,
And part given away in charity - 

Such a one, Nanak, truly knows the way to God."

(Adi Granth, Var Sarang, M.1, p. 1245)