I recently added a question to the survey. Originally I did not want to be too intrusive, but was curious what people did/where they worked. At the very end of this blog post are some of the answers to that question.
As I move back to “really” blogging and not just reviewing the book by blogging the daily entries it has occurred to me that creating art is meaningful labor to me. It is art show season so for the next 4-5 months my weekends will be filled with either creating art or setting up at art shows. The last couple of weekends I’ve been setting up at art shows and selling pieces. Here is a picture of one weekend at the Kannapolis Kaleidoscope festival with my sister Sharon. I consider her a true artist. She was painting murals on our bedroom walls when she was in high school. Now that she’s retired she back to art again and the world is a better place because of it.
This was our first show together but it won’t be our last (God willing). I look at this picture and I can hear my dad say: “One day you two will be like two peas in a pod.” He said that as we were going through a family tragedy of losing everything in a house fire and being determined to outlast the delay’s of the insurance company as they used all of their delay tactics to “try to wait until my father died” as one of the firefighters told us they were doing. I just look at this picture and I think about my dad and him knowing what happens as one enters middle-age and the later years of life. You realize that your family or what’s left of it is what matters most.
Another weekend in May I set up at NoDa Day in Charlotte. I was painting some lightbulbs at this show and some kids started coming up and wanted to paint rocks. I coached them through what they could paint on their rocks. The little girl below came up and she knew what she wanted to paint. She painted: “Love” but she added “is worth it.” LOVE IS WORTH IT. That almost brought me to tears because at the end of the day Love is all that is worth it.
So, now as I prepare for several upcoming art shows I have to dedicate myself to the art table so I will have pieces to sell. This weekend I started on the below pieces:
Sometimes when I do this (know that it’s a weekend dedicated to creating, painting, art, etc.) I feel like I’m working on my master’s degree again.
I’m listening to the birds chirp, my neighbors enjoying the pool, people coming and going, doing yard work, etc. while I watch from the window at the art table.
Then I think of people like Winston Churchill and know that there is no place I’d rather be than creating these pieces of art. It feels more like a labor of love that is leading me to my future. It’s as much a space of serenity as it some destination. Past, present and future just collide at the art table. It is peace amidst the chaos of life and love and living.
I think finding what you love is a large part of answering the question – What do you do? Good grief it’s not a job title. I’ve had count – 19 jobs – several different job titles, levels, industries, types of organizations and answering “What do you do?” just can’t be boiled down to a job title, profession or even a business that you own.
It’s larger than that, at least that is what I hope for my life. I watch others as they get caught up in job titles and positions and remember when I was there. It’s almost like watching people caught up in “racing off to a church building” to look for God and remembering when I was there too. I get it. I really do. I just have come to believe that life is bigger than the obvious and the easy.
Hope, Compassion and OM are my words for meditation and study for 2015. It’s been a journey so far this year. All I can do is:
- Hope when I open my eyes every morning I jump out of bed and am ready to enjoy having one more day to live verses hoping that I can just survive the things that will happen on that day.
- Hope I will be able to practice compassion for others and be able to just observe my emotions, not get caught up in them and to watch my ego as it struggles with this charge of showing compassion and offering forgiveness. IT IS A BIG GIGANTIC TEST TO SHOW COMPASSION. TRY IT…IT’S NOT EASY. EVERYDAY I WONDER…WHAT WAS I THINKING TO TAKE ON SHOWING COMPASSION?????
- Hope that all of this blogging, art, Etsy, 19 jobs, 10 years (and counting) sabbatical from my “real life”waiting for me in VA will all add up to a meaningful legacy I can leave my granddaughter. That’s my BIGGEST hope.
Below is how people answered the question: What do you do? So as you can see it’s all over the board from professionals to entry-level. It doesn’t matter what you do, where you currently work, how much you make, if you were recently promoted, etc. YOU can still be miserable doing that thing, but there is always HOPE. HOPE you will find your life’s work. Hold on to HOPE today. Just Hold on to HOPE.
| What do you do? Job Title/Industry/Field | Date/Time |
| software developer | Today, 8:02AM |
| Sales Manager | Today, 7:45AM |
| Admin executive in government training field | Today, 5:41AM |
| Supervisor at a bookstore | Yesterday, 11:19AM |
| fashion designer | Yesterday, 6:27AM |
| brand manager | Friday, May 15th 10:41PM |
| Medical Field | Friday, May 15th 7:20PM |
| Banking | Friday, May 15th 1:19PM |
| Films | Friday, May 15th 7:38AM |
| Retail District Manager | Friday, May 15th 6:59AM |
| Billing | Friday, May 15th 5:45AM |
| Welder | Thursday, May 14th 9:44PM |
| Registered Nurse | Thursday, May 14th 5:09PM |
| Teacher | Thursday, May 14th 4:23PM |
| Design Consultant Assistant | Thursday, May 14th 2:27PM |
| Copywriter | Thursday, May 14th 11:04AM |
| Marketing, PR, writing, publishing – but I’m not doing that now | Thursday, May 14th 8:29AM |
| Receptionist-Secretary/Private Club | Wednesday, May 13th 10:45AM |
| Oil and gas | Wednesday, May 13th 10:30AM |
| food/nutrition service | Wednesday, May 13th 6:39AM |
| Insurance | Wednesday, May 13th 5:58AM |
| Lawrie clerk | Tuesday, May 12th 9:29PM |
| Sales | Tuesday, May 12th 8:11PM |
| Retail | Tuesday, May 12th 7:43PM |
| forklift driver | Tuesday, May 12th 6:04PM |
| Csr | Tuesday, May 12th 5:27PM |
| Cook | Tuesday, May 12th 2:28PM |
| Consultant | Tuesday, May 12th 11:06AM |
| Operations in retail | Tuesday, May 12th 7:46AM |
| Pharmaceutical | Tuesday, May 12th 7:31AM |
| Mortgage | Monday, May 11th 9:43PM |
| Designer | Monday, May 11th 8:09PM |
| Nonprofit arts field | Monday, May 11th 7:49PM |
| IT Specialist | Monday, May 11th 12:37PM |
| Retail | Monday, May 11th 10:12AM |
| Healthcare Operations | Monday, May 11th 10:08AM |
| IT professional | Monday, May 11th 3:40AM |
| Charity sector | Monday, May 11th 2:40AM |
| Transportation | Sunday, May 10th 10:45PM |
| Marketing/Finance | Sunday, May 10th 10:35PM |
| Geologist | Sunday, May 10th 8:36PM |
| Software | Sunday, May 10th 5:14PM |
| family advocate | Saturday, May 9th 2:31PM |
| Retail | Saturday, May 9th 11:51AM |
| Sales | Saturday, May 9th 11:31AM |
| marketing account manager | Saturday, May 9th 9:36AM |
| general restaurant fast food manager | Saturday, May 9th 8:02AM |
| general restaurant fast food manager | Saturday, May 9th 7:54AM |
| Retail | Saturday, May 9th 6:32AM |
| Drafting | Friday, May 8th 6:38PM |
| Finance | Friday, May 8th 5:14PM |
| Programmer | Friday, May 8th 8:15AM |
| Service Technician for Fitness Equipment | Thursday, May 7th 9:04AM |
| food service manager | Thursday, May 7th 3:38AM |
| Need producer | Wednesday, May 6th 10:58PM |
| Customer Service | Wednesday, May 6th 10:15PM |
| Customer service representative | Wednesday, May 6th 9:59PM |
| Sales | Wednesday, May 6th 7:35PM |
| Auto | Wednesday, May 6th 7:23PM |
| Greeter | Wednesday, May 6th 12:51PM |
| Graphic Designer in Gambling Industry | Wednesday, May 6th 10:22AM |
| Art | Wednesday, May 6th 7:45AM |
| Art | Wednesday, May 6th 7:42AM |
| administrative manager in a church ministry | Wednesday, May 6th 7:14AM |
| Analyst | Tuesday, May 5th 4:45PM |
| Sales | Tuesday, May 5th 4:23PM |
| Contracting | Tuesday, May 5th 8:19AM |
| Was Accounts/Admin | Tuesday, May 5th 1:58AM |
| Administrative lands officer | Tuesday, May 5th 1:21AM |
| Welder | Monday, May 4th 10:19PM |
| I/T | Monday, May 4th 4:04PM |
| IT | Monday, May 4th 1:17PM |
| Warehouse | Monday, May 4th 9:49AM |
| PA bookkeeper | Monday, May 4th 6:57AM |
| PA bookkeeper | Monday, May 4th 6:57AM |
| Hospitality | Sunday, May 3rd 10:59PM |
| Administration | Sunday, May 3rd 6:32PM |
| recreation therapy | Sunday, May 3rd 4:22PM |
| Director Evaluation | Sunday, May 3rd 2:58PM |
| Sales | Saturday, May 2nd 11:25PM |
| DIRECTOR | Saturday, May 2nd 2:18PM |
| Qs/construction | Saturday, May 2nd 1:36PM |
| Teacher | Saturday, May 2nd 2:52AM |
| Legal Assistant | Friday, May 1st 9:02PM |
| Research | Friday, May 1st 5:22PM |
| Financial Controller | Friday, May 1st 4:27PM |
| Sales | Friday, May 1st 12:21PM |
| data management | Friday, May 1st 9:26AM |
| Information technology | Thursday, Apr 30th 8:47PM |
| Customer Service | Thursday, Apr 30th 7:18PM |
| business development | Thursday, Apr 30th 5:19PM |
| music teacher | Thursday, Apr 30th 12:46PM |
| Janitorial | Thursday, Apr 30th 11:16AM |
| Finance | Thursday, Apr 30th 6:56AM |
| General manager of mcdonalds | Thursday, Apr 30th 5:47AM |
| Project Engineer | Thursday, Apr 30th 5:48AM |
| Legal Assistant/Receptionist | Wednesday, Apr 29th 4:20PM |
| Contact specialist | Wednesday, Apr 29th 4:18PM |
| motor insurance. but who even gives a fu*k? | Wednesday, Apr 29th 3:45PM |
| Admin | Wednesday, Apr 29th 6:53AM |
