I had one of those light-bulb moments this weekend. Have you ever wondered why you have the interests that you do? Not just interests that make you a bit curious, but the ones that you can lose hours in doing. I think those are moments when you are preparing a path. Eventually it will be clear to you why you are spending so much time on these passions.
A couple of things happened this week to bring on this light-bulb moment. My husband got a call from friends he used to work with that have an idea they want to pursue. They thought of him first, knowing his talents. No resume, no interview, just his particular skill set, and his reputation.
My daughter signed up for school. Nothing along the lines of what she went to college for, but all the training she received in college will help her with the school she is entering. She's passionate about this subject - always has been. I think she feels happy to be "home" in the sense that she is finally pursuing something that feels very right.
Younger daughter wants to be a farmer. Doesn't want a big graduation party in two weeks - wants us to gift her with a Master Gardner's tuition. Not what we had expected from her after four years of college - but who knows where this might go? The world is changing - food is being considered a bit more critically in terms of pesticides, locality, etc.
I think whatever we spend time on is not lost, even if it feels like "just messing around." The books we read, the time we spend dreaming, the things we study, are preparations for something we may not be able to understand when we begin them. But along the way, it becomes more clear, and at some point you have that aha moment and are able to say - that's why I've been studying that all these years!
Has this happened to you?
36 comments:
i find this amazingly true. i have a pretty eclectic work history for the first 10 years out of college. each different in its own way, seeming unrelated, but that prepared me for what i am doing today. sometimes we can look at the path and all its twists and turns with a big question mark...and then a-ha!
my 4 year old wants to be a farmer as well as long as he can play baseball too. if you build it..
I feel so at peace with myself after reading this post. And for that, i thank you so much.
After having lived on a farm for the past two years, that sounds like a brilliant idea! It is beautiful, healthy, and needed. However, it is also a lot of hard work and not a get rich quick scheme. Some people spend their whole lives accumulating the money to buy the peace that you can find on the farm.
The crooked path of my life has been the joy of my living. It has always been about the journey rather than the destination.
What a terrific, and thoughtful post!!! I love the photograph as well...beautiful, and so fitting to the post!!!
What a thought provoking post. Life takes so many twists and turns - every step we take is preparing us for something new... I can attest to this in my own life. Here I am, in my second half and pursuing a whole new life! I studied, trained and worked in corporate marketing my entire career up until one year ago (has it been a year already?) NOW I spend all my time at a market!
Congratulations on getting a farmer in your family. I would be so proud! Growing food, tilling and caring for the earth, feeding people. These are spiritual things! Sounds like your daughter has been reading your blog.
I'm kinda in that place now... where I'm realizing why I've been doing what I've been doing. You're right on the head! Isn't it amazing how we don't need to know until...
As usual, you have pinpointed something I myself am going through. You kind of just keep plugging along until the reason for it all just hits you in the face. At that point, it feels even more rewarding!
Thanks for putting a voice to my life this morning!! :)
Man, this post was just what the doctor ordered! Or, better yet, one of my favorite bloggers! Thanks for this....
ExpatFromHell
Oh yes, I couldn't agree more! I really believe that God designed us to follow our passion & that will lead not only to success but fullfillment & a FUN LIFE!
I have a friend asks people who feel "stuck", "What makes your heart sing?"
Leads to some pretty interesting desires & dreams!
Oh yes, I feel that way too! I've been discovering so many things that I get lost in doing...does professional hot tub soaker count as a career? hee hee.
I agree! It hasn't happened yet to me, but I know one day it will-- I didn't go to art history graduate school only so I could live overseas while studying and then come back to get an office job. One day I'll own my own gallery I hope. If not that's ok too though.
I feel that moment in my not-too-distant future...still mulling some things over...mentally trying things on for size...can't wait to see my light bulb go off (or is it "on")?
Thanks as always for sharing!
Your words are so meaningful to me right now...I have been somewhat passive and then crazy making art, "wasting time thinking" - (or so it would seem) - as my house descends into dustballs and the weeds grow high!! perhaps I need to look a bit more closely and rearrange my priorities, leaving behind the guilt? YAY! without the guilt, things become much more clear! today I make art! ;)
There are no mistakes, are there. Sometimes we must travel far down the road before our path becomes clear...I love this post! That aha moment...pure bliss. You finally feel you are exactly where you are supposed to be. That's a happy day :D
Thanks for this! You have put a big smile on my face today :D
Syncronicity again. I've agonized over the first half of my life and all of the poor choices I made until recently. I am the product of teenage parents, a heroin addict Father I only met on visits to prison or brief periods of time when he was on parole, witness to almost unspeakable abuse and violence, poverty, family dysfunction I didn't understand, gifted and talented school programs, obsessive reading from the moment I could read, marrying a beautiful loving man I knew for six months and stumbling around to give our two beautiful sons the best life I could possibly provide. Sometimes I'm obsessively drawn to something when a part of me thinks I should be doing something else. That has cause me a great deal of inner conflict, but I am finding more peace these days. Thank you for helping to guide me and giving me deep and wonderful ideas to think about. Yes, I love the photo very much and it fits this perfectly. Also thank you for your thoughtful and kind message.
Just yesterday I treated myself to a Psychology Today Magazine and a couple bottles of suds at a neighborhood patio...the only Magazine I can read with interest cover to cover; and makes me think, am I in the wrong field? However, I know, that knowledge of any kind, can be applied to all fields! It's the diversity of minds coming together that create success!
Congrats to the fam!
I can spend hours and hours and all night and go to sleep at 5am..... working on my two blogs. I like all aspects of it, even promoting it, which a lot of artists do not like to do.
I am 65 years old. Spreading my own kind of message via blogging is my new path.
~Lorna
I've always felt that "everything matters. Everything counts." The words we say, the things we do, our interests and thoughts. It's all a part of the complex selves we claim as our own, every bit of it.
Amen! I believe that life is a series of opportunities. All connected and preparing us for thr next one. Lovely sentiment and thank you so much for the reminder of how connected everything really is.
It is all about trusting that the light shines ahead. We don't see the final destination as yet but trusting the light that shows parts of the path gets us there. take care.
Nope, I can't say I've really wondered too much about my interests passions... probably 'cause I think I can pinpoint the beginnings of most of them! In most cases thanks to wonderful parents who would encourage me when I showed an interest in something particular and gave me opportunites to develop certain of my talents. Then there's been all my moving around that has exposed me to many people with their own hobbies that have later caught my interest.
But yes, all of these little things influence who we become, how we view the world, so it's no suprise to wake up one day and see how they've impacted our life. It's wonderful! The only problem (at least in my case) seems to be finding an equilibrium when you've got too much on your plate.
Two of my sons are Graphic Designers. Now, I know why I kept buying them colouring books and brushes etc. when they were growing up! It was costly and messy, but it was worth it.
Synch........... again. Your picture, posted today, is almost the same as one I put on my new Blog today.
Blessings Star
Hi,
Shame this is such a money orientated society otherwise we could all be able to blossom.
Love,
Herrad
I totally agree! I watched the film about the The Secret and the Law of Attraction. Your blog reminded me of this film. I am an accountant by profession but lead a totally different career. It was not clear to me then why I chose a different path but now I am convinced that the passion within me attracted me to the job that I have now..
I have never been content and happy.
Clearly, the Law of attraction has worked its miracles throughout the years. I am happy that The Secret has touched your lives as well.
You seem to be hitting the nail on the head lately. I have always been a little reluctant to write. You know wondering if what I write is worth reading. One daughter pushed me into this and just last night the other daughter told me that I was a fantastic writer. She has no idea how her words affected me. Life is such a journey.....
I have wanted to do a post on what careers people are in now as opposed to what they studied in college. Most people I talk to find their niche and go with it...which is not necessarily what they were trained to do but what they have innate within them. We all seem to be preparing for tomorrow today...although we don't know what tomorrow will bring. Aha moments...you bet!
Wow, how wonderful you are to feel free to be so positive about your daughter's life changes and dreams.
Gardening and working with the earth is such positive thing.
You are so right about this. My daughter's degree is in Theater/Performing Arts, and now she's applying to law school. A good lawyer needs to be a good actor, too!
I think college is a process of socializing, more refined than high school (and more expensive), but what it teaches doesn't seem to often coincide with the "career goals" of students. It does give people a network that they tend to work with (usually) over a long period of time.
Don't you still have friends from college? I do.
Glad to hear you're understanding about this vis a vis your kids. Lots of people think their kids should be good to go at age 21. I wasn't. Were you?
Reya - No! I'm still looking...
I think that nothing done with love and hope and creativity is wasted effort, though I'm not sure whether this effort always bears fruit in any obvious or immediate way. A thoughtful post - thanks!
Definitely have these moments and often don't know why!!
I always wanted to be a farmer, ever since being a little girl. Sometimes, if we try hard enough, dreams really do come true...!
CJ xx
It's amazing how you can sometimes feel you have "drifted" into something, not by any conscious effort, it seemingly just presents itself, and so off you toddle..
Virtually every journey I've taken has led on to prove significant and worthwhile. The paths are converging - they have led me to a good place! Good luck to your daughter, she looks to be setting off on a very promising path of her own.
Your daughter is a master gardener? How incredible! You are such lucky mom.
I have so many different things I want to be and do when I graduate college, it overwhelms me.
Currently my major is photography and journalism, but I have been wanting to pursue a degree in Kinesiology so I could become a maternal yoga instructor...
It's only my second year so I'm just getting my basic courses taken care of.
I think it is possible to do it all. :)
Yes, I think my husband has finally returned to ONE of his true callings, photography. He began it 35 yrs ago when we were first married and he inherited a dozen or so classic cameras from his uncle. He pursued it as a hobby but had to make a living. Now, after a series of physical setbacks in the past three years, he has returned to it and is so very good, he's hung up a shingle.
I ALWAYS wanted to write and I did...alot of poetry, alot of letters, some attempts at fiction. I never had the self-confidence to stick to it so I was inconsistent. Now I am "finding my voice" through blogging but I do not intend to stop there. I've been working on a book for two years and I'm determined to finish it. I think finishing it is what I strive for. Publishing it would be the icing on the cake.
First visit with many familiar perspectives ... the warm fuzzy of another, validating heartfelt visions known to self. Thank you - "life in the second half" is indeed a time for intention, purpose and action with reflective wisdom and opening anew.
Oh MY GoB! Are you sure we weren't separated at birth? Having just written two posts that contain what this post has in it!!!!!!!!
I seem to remember that i found you by stumbling on my maiden name on your blog.Synchronicity!xx♥
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