...And What Do You Do?

Suppose there’s a CPA who’s darned good at what he does, but maybe what he really wants to be is a scratch golfer. Or you have a lawyer – a hard-driving litigator by day who harbors a secret passion for karaoke by night. Or a taxidermist studying natural health and healing methodologies in his spare time.

They’re all over the place: politicians who just want to cook, meter readers who just want to kayak, seamstresses who just want to learn Italian. Their day jobs and their real passions could be so seemingly disconnected that they might never confess their true hearts’ desires and avocations to their professional colleagues.

I absolutely love the work I do. Still, out of the wealth of all my passions I know could do more. I could be an Episcopal priest / B&B owner-operator / film script reviewer / Gen-X theology writer / pie taster / fez collector. (If only there were money to be made in fezzes.)

Is it naturally disconcerting, this business of a “day job,” the thing you do for money? Is every time we go to work another chance to sell out just a little bit more? Of course not!

Yet somewhere there’s a tiny voice crying out, a splinter in our minds – “I could do this all day if only it paid, and I’d never get tired of it.”

Truth is, it does pay. It pays many rich dividends as it brings you life and energy, and it’s nothing at all to be ashamed of.

Here’s a stretch for you. Imitate the old pyramid-scheme marketers by making a sign that says “Ask me about (blank),” where the blank is the shorthand name for your deepest passion. Adorn it with photos of you taking part in your favorite activity, or with inspirational quotes from that field. Then take that sign to your place of work and post it prominently.

As people come in and out of your work space, they will ask. Although it might be embarrassing at first, you will eventually find yourself swelling with insight and happiness as you lay out the whys and wherefores of woodcarving, candle-making, or 18th-Century English literature.

Now here’s the big lift: your reputation will change. Instead of being known as the Copier Guy, Close-Talker, or Mr. Bad Breath, you will become known as Karaoke Man, Surf Dude, Master of the Scrapbook, Señorita Stamp. There will still be a new stereotype for you to overcome, but you at least will have exposed the old stereotype as boring on your way to telling people more about who you really are.

This is wholly in keeping with the life of faith, where we are asked to bring our entire selves, unashamedly, into everything we do. What a liberating possibility.

Have a good week.

The Rev. Torey Lightcap is Priest-In-Charge of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glenwood Springs.