Cherish-Relish #7: When your Passion is your Job, Your Job Energizes!

Yesterday, I spent the whole day at the office working … yeah right, working? Technically, I was (am) preparing for a new course I’m set to teach in the Winter Semester of 2014 entitled ‘Spiritual Quests and Popular Culture’. I wanted to entitle it ‘The Gospel according to Harry Potter’, but that title was turned down by the powers-that-be. Whatever … the course is still mainly about Harry Potter (Oh yes, I’m a fervent Harry Potter aficionado) and it has a couple of simple main ideas: Harry Potter is a Jesus-figure; the Harry Potter saga is an excellent lens through which we can understand Christianity and ‘the Way’ that Christianity proposes. So, yesterday, I was examining different aspects of the long Potter saga and trying to figure out what I should emphasize in the course to the students.

I was thinking about this in the evening and it struck me that it just happens that, in my case, my passion is my job. My passion? Examining the ways in which religion-spirituality-the idea of God-the Bible-Jesus-Christianity-Catholicism, etc. began and have developed in history and how they are still relevant to humans today. My job? As a university professor, first, research-study-writing about my passion; second, sharing-teaching my passion to the students. Yes, I get paid to do this. Oh sure, there are aspects of the job that tire me out … such as long meetings, grading, etc., but the main tasks I have in the job (what I wrote above) are things that I am deeply passionate about, that I could immerse myself in and not get tired but rather energized. I cherish and relish this; I am deeply grateful that I earn my living by pursuing something I’m passionate about.

Of course, I know that this is not the case with many, many people and I empathize with all who find their work draining or even dreadful. I wish and pray that everyone could still find meaning in what they do for a living and to bring the spirit of mindfulness to the workplace. In connection with this, let me share the following. In my first year teaching here in Canada, on a particularly tiresome day, a friend of mine asked me how I was and I said, “busy and quite tired.” His reply was, “Be thankful you’re busy and can get tired because of this. That means you have a job. Many people don’t have one.” The truth of his remark really struck me deeply. I cannot agree more and recall that time when I was worried about my future, about whether I could secure a job as a new immigrant in Canada who faced countless odds. 

In the end, it is gratefulness … THANKS-ARIGATO-SALAMAT!