Small World Park, Pittsburg, CA
(photos by Minotte)
When you love your work, it's really not work. And I think, that's the way to go.
Today, we were in the midst of moving homes. Regardless to say, it was busy, messy, and confusing. It is also the height of allergy season. My eyes are watery and severely itchy. I am sneezy and itchy all over. And today, the temperature will reach a high of mid-80's--which might as well be 90's under the sun. And also today, I got my period. I suffer from cramps and nausea.
But I have 3 assignments to cover today. If I did not like my work, any one of the reasons above would have sufficed to just stay home. I thought diligence dragged me out of bed, into the shower, and into the car towards my first assignment, a children's fair in a newly-renovated park, where the sun was high and so was the pollen count. I shot a couple of photos, talked to a couple of families picnicking. The sun was so bright, I couldn't see if my pictures were good in the screen. And before I knew, it, I had spent an hour in the park. I forgot about the heat and my sneezies seemed to clear.
On I went to cover an anti-march crime, in full glory of the noontime heat. There are no trees in the water park, where they were to start from. The concrete of the parking lot was reflecting more heat into a slight headache. I prayed: "Lord, help me through this. . ." The Lord showed me all these rallyers--they were doing this under the heat of the sun, too. They were doing it to curb crime in the community and to honor the police.
I knew I got several shades darker when I reached the Art Walk in Brentwood. But the energy of the artists tided me over. They were fun, committed to their craft, and excited to introduce me to their work. They stood in the heat, too, hoping to sell some art. Through them, I realized how privileged I am to like what I do.
When I got to my sauna of a car, I was dizzy. I was hallucinating about an ice cold shower and air-drying myself until I got the chills. I got home and jumped into the coldest water I could set. I realized that I love my job. I hate the heat but I was able to bear it. My cramps and my allergy seemed to wait until I finished. But the heavenly cold water washed all the heat away.
I would write for free. (I have and I will! In fact, I would do many things for free.) I realized it is not really the writing. It's the feeling that I am echoing out the voices of the community into paper. There's a high that I get and it feels like my high when I make a good batch of bread, or when I finish a crocheted scarf. I realized that it may not be what we do per se that makes us happy. It is the feeling we get while we work that makes us happy.
There is a feeling that fulfills when you know you like what you are doing--be it raising your kids, ice skating, painting, or analyzing financial statements. So if you work to earn a living, I hope that you at least like your job because I can't imagine how unhappy you can be, spending a third of your day, a third of your life doing something you don't like. That is the biggest waste of time, I think.
I have had jobs I didn't like to do. I even lost my hair and had a fever for 7 days with the last job I hated. My body was really sending me bigger signals to quit. I would rather be poor than do something I didn't like. But i realized that you can have it both--work you like and a decent income.
In heaven, we cannot bring our work, our jobs. But we certainly will bring with us the feelings and memories we had about them. So collect good and high memories.
Do you like what you do?
