I'm in one of my introspective moods. Then again, when am I not? I get contemplative when my soul hungers for something. Sometimes its for knowledge. Sometimes it's for beauty. Sometimes it's for both. Oftentimes we get too busy to allow ourselves to be moved by the simple beauty of words, the emotions they evoke, the images they inspire.
This has always been one of my favorite poems because it's the love I believe in. The love that brings two people together, but strengthens them as individuals.
Love One Another
~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet (1883-1931)
Love one another, but make not a bond of love
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping;
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together;
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
One of My Favorite Poems. Ever.
Absence
~ Pablo Neruda
I have scarcely left you
when you go in me, crystalline,
or trembling,
or uneasy, wounded by me
or overwhelmed with love, as when your eyes
close upon the gift of life
that without cease I give you.
My love,
we have found each other
thirsty and we have
drunk up all the water and the blood,
we found each other
hungry
and we bit each other
as fire bites,
leaving wounds in us.
But wait for me,
keep for me your sweetness.
I will give you too
a rose.
~ Pablo Neruda
I have scarcely left you
when you go in me, crystalline,
or trembling,
or uneasy, wounded by me
or overwhelmed with love, as when your eyes
close upon the gift of life
that without cease I give you.
My love,
we have found each other
thirsty and we have
drunk up all the water and the blood,
we found each other
hungry
and we bit each other
as fire bites,
leaving wounds in us.
But wait for me,
keep for me your sweetness.
I will give you too
a rose.
Each of Us Has a Personal Call to Greatness
"Each of us has a personal call to greatness -- and because yours is as unique to you as your fingerprints, no one can tell you what it is. Ignoring your passion is like dying a slow death. Your life is speaking to you every day, all the time--and your job is to listen up and find the clues. Passion whispers to you through your feelings, beckoning you toward your highest good. Pay attention to what makes you feel energized, connected, stimulated--what gives you're your juice. Do what you love, create a life of service that fulfills your reason for being here. When you do, you will do more than succeed. . .you will triumph."
When one of our HR consultants retired she sent us this excerpt as part of her goodbye email. It's a powerful message that I think needs to be shared with everyone. She retired to care for abandoned babies in Romania. She said she was answering a calling.
A lot of my frustrations career-wise have been because I'm not doing what I'm passionate about. I mean, c'mon. Who can be passionate about collecting taxes? What I do is repetitive, monotonous and just downright unmotivating. Luckily, I have some great coworkers who make every day fun and sometimes I'm inspired to find my own amusement in the stupid excuses taxpayers come up with.
It's a job, plain & simple, and I've already come to terms with the fact that it's not the right job for me. I just don't know anymore what my calling is. So I read this excerpt at least once a day and try to figure out what I'm passionate about. I remember as a young girl I wanted to become a teacher. Then as I got older, I wanted to become a journalist. Then I discovered a knack for computers. But nothing's clicked for me as far as something I want to dedicate my life doing.
How I came to be a revenue agent still bothers me. I just got on a stable track and stayed there, whether I liked what I did or not. My old coworkers who've gone on to field offices, agents I've trained, always ask me what I'm still doing at the same office, because there's no avenue of promotion within my office. I tell them honestly, I have no desire whatsoever to be field agent who'll only delve deeper into the unrewarding life of a tax hound.
Besides, my current office is 10 minutes from home & the work isn't unduly stressful as long as I keep your nose clean & fly under the radar. Unfortunately, since I've been dealing with my depression & am uninspired to do more than the bare minimum required, I've had missile lock on me, so it's gotten stressful. I'm very reluctant to give up the commute, but I think it's time for me to move on.
"Each of us has a personal call to greatness -- and because yours is as unique to you as your fingerprints, no one can tell you what it is. Ignoring your passion is like dying a slow death. Your life is speaking to you every day, all the time--and your job is to listen up and find the clues. Passion whispers to you through your feelings, beckoning you toward your highest good. Pay attention to what makes you feel energized, connected, stimulated--what gives you're your juice. Do what you love, create a life of service that fulfills your reason for being here. When you do, you will do more than succeed. . .you will triumph."
When one of our HR consultants retired she sent us this excerpt as part of her goodbye email. It's a powerful message that I think needs to be shared with everyone. She retired to care for abandoned babies in Romania. She said she was answering a calling.
A lot of my frustrations career-wise have been because I'm not doing what I'm passionate about. I mean, c'mon. Who can be passionate about collecting taxes? What I do is repetitive, monotonous and just downright unmotivating. Luckily, I have some great coworkers who make every day fun and sometimes I'm inspired to find my own amusement in the stupid excuses taxpayers come up with.
It's a job, plain & simple, and I've already come to terms with the fact that it's not the right job for me. I just don't know anymore what my calling is. So I read this excerpt at least once a day and try to figure out what I'm passionate about. I remember as a young girl I wanted to become a teacher. Then as I got older, I wanted to become a journalist. Then I discovered a knack for computers. But nothing's clicked for me as far as something I want to dedicate my life doing.
How I came to be a revenue agent still bothers me. I just got on a stable track and stayed there, whether I liked what I did or not. My old coworkers who've gone on to field offices, agents I've trained, always ask me what I'm still doing at the same office, because there's no avenue of promotion within my office. I tell them honestly, I have no desire whatsoever to be field agent who'll only delve deeper into the unrewarding life of a tax hound.
Besides, my current office is 10 minutes from home & the work isn't unduly stressful as long as I keep your nose clean & fly under the radar. Unfortunately, since I've been dealing with my depression & am uninspired to do more than the bare minimum required, I've had missile lock on me, so it's gotten stressful. I'm very reluctant to give up the commute, but I think it's time for me to move on.
"Each of us has a personal call to greatness -- and because yours is as unique to you as your fingerprints, no one can tell you what it is. Ignoring your passion is like dying a slow death. Your life is speaking to you every day, all the time--and your job is to listen up and find the clues. Passion whispers to you through your feelings, beckoning you toward your highest good. Pay attention to what makes you feel energized, connected, stimulated--what gives you're your juice. Do what you love, create a life of service that fulfills your reason for being here. When you do, you will do more than succeed. . .you will triumph."
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