I am celebrating Labor Day by working.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of vocation: work that requires your whole self — heart, mind, and soul — work that challenges and fulfills, that speaks to some essential piece of you, that makes you more fully yourself.
My vocation is acting. It took me years to come to terms with that, to own it. Even now, writing it “out loud” in this public forum is a little scary. But it’s the truth. It’s highly unlikely that my vocation will ever pay all of the bills, but as I have grown fond of saying, it’s not about making a living; it’s about making a life.
And for me, making a life means working for New Leaf. And while I consider myself an actor first and foremost, I find I get tremendous satisfaction from tasks and projects that sometimes seem far removed from the act of making theatre. Managing the business of New Leaf (today that means grant reports, acknowledgment letters, paying bills, and organizing files) may not be as fulfilling as rehearsing and performing, but it strengthens the foundation of this place that I am lucky enough to call my home.
I often catch myself feeling jealous of friends whose vocation supports them, who have the luxury of spending their 40 (or 50, or 60) hours a week in fulfilling work.
Today, I am simply grateful to have work that I love.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because the world needs more people who have come alive.”
-Harold Whitman
I love your distinction between making a living and making a life. And I second it, wholeheartedly.
Mark, I love that quote. And Marsha, it’s so nice to read that articulated. I feel the same way but I need reminders sometimes.