Posts Tagged ‘do what you love’

Today, on Easter, is a good day to think about rebirth–even to resurrect  one’s dreams–even to experience a resurgence of hope and possibility .

And every so often, Seth Godin‘s encouraging words aid in that process!  I reprint part of his blog to which I subscribe and send you to the full version.

His point:  These are difficult, and most importantly, different times.  Yet, those who care to do what they love, fulfill a need, and make a difference, have more opportunity than ever before.  Here’s Seth:

“Every individual, self-employed or with a boss, is now more in charge of her destiny than ever before. The notion of a company town or a stagnant industry with little choice is fading fast.

Right before your eyes, a fundamentally different economy, with different players and different ways to add value is being built. What used to be an essential asset (for a person or for a company) is worth far less, while new attributes are both scarce and valuable.

Are there dislocations? There’s no doubt about it. Pain and uncertainty and risk, for sure.

The opportunity, though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter). The opportunity is there for anyone (with or without a job) smart enough to take it–to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy real needs, to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything.

¡Note! Like all revolutions, this is an opportunity, not a solution, not a guarantee. It’s an opportunity to poke and experiment and fail and discover dead ends on the way to making a difference. The old economy offered a guarantee–time plus education plus obedience = stability. The new one, not so much. The new one offers a chance for you to take a chance and make an impact.”

As I just returned from a 3 week meditation retreat, I am in slow-mode, primarily because the one who returned is not the one who left. I am feeling a bit raw, a bit vulnerable, a bit uncertain, a bit discombobulated, a bit not who I used to be, a bit curious about what will be happening.  Why do I reveal and write this?

Because those of you who are contemplating making changes in your lives and doing more of what you love may find yourselves entering this very space. You are letting go of what you used to think, what you used to do,  in order to create something new for yourselves.  Deep intentions to change, and the courage to jump into some of those changes as experiments can be transforming. The process of transforming means we are moving from what felt comfortable and normal, albeit no longer desireable, to a new state, and it is not yet where we feel comfortable, not yet the terrain we know.

So personally, at this moment,  I am compelled to stop doing, take stock, rest, and integrate.  I got my instructions from the internet in a serendipitous encounter:  ”Do Nothing!” was the message.  The only problem is that doing nothing has been one of my lifelong challenges.  So, all I can say is there are  no accidents. I get to be invited again to learn what is not so easy for me and what is critically necessary. I get to take a time out.

It occurs to me that those of you who are trying to create new lives with some urgency, are not the shy ones, not the tentative ones.  You are the ones who want to experiment, learn, grow, get it done, do it right.  Maybe you, too, could use a little do nothing time, to allow the wisdom of your body to instruct you as to your next moves in life.  Maybe you could use a little sitting by the window time, sitting under a tree time, a little “honoring of the wonder that is you” time.

I offer you the experiment that came into my life via the website, www.donothingfor2minutes.com. Someone is taking our needs seriously. Someone knows that the answers we seek do not come into our busyness as much as they await our creation of space, our courage to pause in our doing, so that we can welcome our being. Someone knows that this habit is one of those practices which is fundamental to crafting the changes that matter to us.

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.

But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.

~ Alan Cohen

How do you get to do what you love? To make it simple, let’s get it down to two basic steps!  Even though it’s never quite that simple, two steps gives us a framework for starting. First GET CLEAR….about what you are good at, what gives you pleasure, how you do “you” when nobody’s looking. As stated in an earlier post, it’s important to at least focus on the questions embedded in that requirement and to ask others to help you answer them:  Who am I?  What am I good at? What is my unique contribution to situations in which I find myself?  What gives me pleasure during my days?   Don’t be afraid to get help as you try to answer those questions.

Next GET MOVING…when you know what you love and are good at, in what ways can you do a bit more of it?  Where can you eliminate what doesn’t give you pleasure?  How can you locate people who seem to be doing some of the things you like to do, and arrange to talk to them? Who might be a coach or a mentor and how can you arrange time with them?    I like to consider getting into action as the phase of low risk experiments.  Do something, and learn something, and try something else. The universe rewards specific actions which are expressions of your intention and there is help available to  get you moving.

Of course, either of the two basic steps which involve contemplating something new for your life can be daunting.  You’ll hear the little voices…”I can’t, I don’t have time, I’ll never be able to support myself. Why would they want to talk to me?  I’m not good at anything!”  And so, perhaps one important way to GET MOVING is to install the voices of choice which will at least provide some internal support for options you’d like to pursue.

Right now,  I am setting up three playgrounds for writing about things that matter to me.  These are my  three blog sites. The topics definitely overlap. So from time to time, I’ll cross reference to earlier posts, and current posts on other sites for your benefit and my ease.  I’ll be continuing to illuminate the two basic steps in a variety of ways as it occurs to me to do so, and as your questions reach me. Enjoy the journey!  I do believe that you CAN be doing more of what you love in your life!

I love the New Year energy, the energy of new beginnings, new opportunities, new possibilities.  Yes, it is February.  But still the year is new.  And it is just about the time when it becomes far too easy to contaminate our January 1st hopefulness with our old reliable “shoulds.”  Thus we “forget” our resolutions and end up  with a way too long list of the same old things to be “more of”, “better at”, and “different from.”   This is an energy depleting moment.

This February, with reflection, if or when that moment appears, we might do something different and refreshing.  This might be the year to simplify. It might be the year to resolve to just to be ourselves, to do the business we love, to serve the customers we most enjoy, to clarify our gifts and how we want to share them.

I’ll  make a bold statement!  All of us are experts at something. Some have discovered that expertise.  For the rest, what is it, and have you really claimed it?   Our expertise is often comprised of our life experience,  the things we can’t not do, the things we constantly seek to learn about, the things we want to teach others about, our passions, even the ways we rebounded from difficult challenges, and thus know better than anyone else.  Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of  Sweet Honey in the Rock has said:  “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”

Personally, I am drawn to the unusual and special business niches Read the rest of this entry »

I like Seth Godin. He is a remarkable man with an original voice, who is convinced that the world needs our gifts, and our initiatives.  In his many books, he invites, requests, inspires, issues pleas to all of us, individually, and in groups,to stand for what we believe, contribute our “art”, (his word for “do what you love”).  I refer you to his most recent limited edition book experiment on Amazon, and his eloquent description of what he’s trying to do and why, with this particular piece of his art being offered for sale.  Perhaps his short explanation of what he’s about will further encourage like-minded souls, to read Why Not? and begin actively contemplating how you want to spend your next years.  In the tough times we face – and I believe they’ll be getting tougher –  we need all the reassurance and support we can find, together, to do what is ours to do.   This is one man and one voice who is clearly pointing us in a direction that makes sense for the times.  Click here for his video.

Building on the notion of  heroism, let’s not forget about the courage it takes to step out and do what you love, offer your gifts, and make your contribution.  My colleague Matthew Goldfarb is one who is showing us how.  Stepping away from his corporate cubicle just over a year ago, he took being a renegade literally.  A very experienced copywriter, and having worked for a number of the big companies, he was tired of figuring out how to sell products that are, well, just products we probably don’t need. So he hung out his shingle, Corporate Renegade Copy, and started serving and supporting  heart centered entrepreneurs who live to make people’s lives better, healthier and happier.

I was so moved by the feature article in his recent newsletter ,  that I am compelled to share it.   In that article, Watered Down Copy,  he encourages those of us in heart centered businesses, and by extension everyone,  to really not mince words about our enthusiasms and our brilliant gifts, to not play “small.”  The message is right for the times, and for my readers.  So thanks for putting that “good copy” out there, Matthew!  This heart centered, senior solo practitioner is already taking it to heart.

Something definitely changes when we finally summon the courage to risk telling the truth about who we are and who we are not.                                                        ~Angeles Arrien

”Every man has a coward and hero in his soul,” asserts Thomas Carlyle.  In times of change, whether self-initiated or imposed, it’s easy to feel both those parts calling to us— the parts that are willing to move forward into the new and unknown, and the parts that fear doing so.  Sometimes we forget that we need to be listening to, and honoring, both.  We are human after all and all change elicits normal reactions and emotions.

After listening to our hero and our coward, let’s remember that it matters to our future which of the two parts we’ll choose to give more of our attentions, and in which part we will invest our intentions.  There is no doubt that choosing to do more of what you love, may at first be a fearful prospect, and will frequently require some courage.

Also, as we move into this particular  2011 New Year, we are moving into a political climate which is asking us to be clear and measured about the stands we take for ourselves and our families.  It raises the importance of not only our life work choices, but the choices for speech and action that we make on a daily basis.  Can we be heroic enough to stand for “good” we want for ourselves in a way that also serves others?   Can we be heroic enough to disagree with civility and respect?  Can we be heroic enough to speak our truth without making the other person “wrong.”  Can we be heroic enough to stand for what’s helpful and useful to the community at large?

The way the world works, as I understand it, you get more of what you need and want, by helping others get more of what they need and want.

This is not the work for cowards.

I love the ending of the year.  Yes, there is Christmas.  Yes, there are opportunities to reconnect with friends.  Full disclosure:  I admit that our consumer culture and the associated shopping and crowded stores are not so much my thing at this season of the year.

But endings and beginnings are my thing!  I’m feeling the urge to clean house, and acted upon it.  I delete long unneeded “saves” on my computer, take clothes to the tailor for repair,  close out what’s been done in 2010 and give thanks for progress, make my year end contributions,  clean off my desk to make it ready for the new—- that’s what gets my juices going.

It’s getting to almost be time to set my intention for the New Year 2011. May I remind myself, and you, too, to make it small, doable, actionable, satisfying and full of pleasure.  Let ‘do what you love’ enter into your 2011 life in all the little ways it can. (If you want a big one, that’s ok, too.  Just a small warning about the dangers of self paralysis with ginormous goals that keep reappearing on the well intended resolutions lists, and never get attended to.)

Make your holidays happy for yourself and those others with whom you want to share them.

When working on the new coordination of graphic versions for my websites (not yet up), the option for  Time for You was presented in a soft pink. My housemate’s reaction was visceral.  ”Martha,” she said, “that looks like you are inviting people to a spa to make them comfy and feel good.  That is not you.  And I can most assuredly attest to that.”   She added, “You need a more kick-ass color, like red-orange .  Yes, you are gentle, you are respectful and you are amazing.  And you challenge your clients.  You invite people to take time , even insist, that they value themselves enough to take the time to find their own clarity.”

We both had a good laugh.  She brought a sensitivity to the visual dimension of the message that I had missed.  It was a simple exchange which gave me more clarity and affirmation about my own gifts and how I use them.

Now, about that kick-ass color….

UPDATE! As I follow where the book is leading me, I’m discovering more venues and formats for engaging folks in reflecting about their lives and the futures they hope to have.  I was at Mt. Holyoke College recently with 35 young women inviting them to  reflect upon their gifts. They seemed to enjoy the perspective of a joyful elder still engaged at 70. Besides short book “readings”, I now offer a 3-hour program  with an agenda that promotes discussion and clarity about the gifts and talents and passions that attendees want to share with the world.

What’s emerging forcefully right now is my need to expand and republish Musing… The original volume was written in 2001 and includes the documentation in poetry of an unwelcome diagnosis. That was a first phase.  The later poems 2002-2008 have been patiently awaiting their turn and are now loudly calling for attention.  It means that a 10+ year journey  (click for draft of new preface) of coping with chronic illness and life in general will soon be available to assist those who may be traveling the same road, and enjoy a little perspective.

The PERSONAL COMPONENT of “Why Not?” is currently listening to the 4:00 am messages and learning what’s next for me. I’ll keep you posted through the blog about my journey.  Feel free to keep me posted about yours.

The  POLITICAL COMPONENT of life on this planet at this time also chugs along. I am concerned about our government’s inability to respond to the needs of the planet.   In the 2nd printing of Why Not? I add an Appendix E (see excerpts page) which names what I believe is the context in which we are being asked to make our choices about what we will do with our lives.  Bill McKibben’s newest book, Eaarth, is really an eye-opener for those who are beginning to wake up to the current realities which are demanding our attention. New for me is learning about the Transition Towns Movement, perhaps our biggest hope for the future.