Archive for August, 2010

In my book, I featured the work of Eric Schwarz who, 15 years ago, created an experiment of sharing his love of writing with a group of middle schoolers in Boston.  He started somewhere!  His good friend, an EMT, shared his love of first aid with another group of middle schoolers.  Ultimately, their work became Citizen Schools, involving 4,000 adults in 7 states, who share their passions, and provide a way for young people to discover that nurturing their interests are key to their future success. From such a small experiment, a strategy for transforming education in this country has emerged.  Check it out.

Fortunately, I’m still on the Citizen Schools mailing list and I just received a recent video of a young African American particpant of 11 years ago,  now a senior at Boston College, who told his story at a recent Boston Conference on revolutionizing ideas.  Please watch this 12 minute video.  If you are looking for a way to contribute and share what you love in the world, there is no better place than with young people through this program.  The research is starting to affirm the impact on the lives of middle school kids who are given this opportunity by their school districts and by the willing adults in their communities. As we know, our education system is unfortunately busted.  We can await a national policy fix, or we can do what we can.  The research is indicating that doing what we can, with what we already have (our passions and a willingness to share), is making a significant difference.

Once again, web blogs provide ways to look at things differently.  I googled ‘do what you love blogs’ and what I found was an interesting notion that could be considered a contradiction but which I prefer to consider—an illumination.   Denis Basaric felt that ‘do what you love’ advice is much too simplistic and leaves the 95% who “have to work for money” feeling a bit hollow and certainly not inspired. He has a point. To those who feel trapped in a job, he offers this approach:  Figure out a way to do what you do with excellence, at a higher level, and begin to love your accomplishments.  Where we totally agree is that there is always something you can do to improve, change, or, enrich your situation and make it more to your liking.  In addition, I’ll always hold out the possibility that you can create the mindset that you can have…and you deserve… what you really want, and that many people in exactly your circumstances have made it happen.

Hanging from my car mirror is my handicapped parking tag.  In addition, I have a red sticker stuck to the rear bumper. It’s been there forever.  I pretty much forget about it. Until each time that someone notices and says, “That’s one of the best bumper stickers I’ve ever seen.” What surprises me is how often I hear that.

My gimpy leg is just a condition. My cane is my enabler.   My bumper sticker tells it true, “ATTITUDES ARE THE REAL DISABILITY.”

We all have disabling attitudes, just in different areas.  Those who are contemplating doing what they love may encounter a whole bunch:  I don’t know what I love.  I’ll never be able to earn a living at it.  What if I’m still not happy?  Change is hard.  I’m afraid my family won’t support me in following my dreams.  I just can’t….

My enablers are a cane,  a walker, a simple diet, lots of water,  and a nap in the afternoon.  What are yours?  The compelling magnetism of your dream?  The support of a coach/mentor/therapist?  The will to start somewhere even if it is not perfect?  The courage to ask for help?

Dreams are too important.  Your gifts are needed on two fronts.  You need to give them and the world needs to have them. While disabling attitudes can feel like the truth of the matter, they are not. They are only a construct.  And, they certainly do not need to be permanent.

One thing I do enjoy about the internet experience is discovering the abundance of resources, ideas, inspirations, and yes, even wisdom, which one can serendipitously encounter on a daily basis.  They are life’s surprises!  Some are worth sharing.   This provocative  10 minute video talk by Australian Nigel Marsh, was posted by a friend on Facebook.  I am choosing to share it with you.  The “Do What You Love” message is soooo related to  decisions about work life balance and how the “career” you choose really needs to be the vehicle for delivering the kind of sanity and joy in your life that you both deserve and want.  Enjoy his take on it!