Six years ago I began blogging. It was a point of my life when I had lost my job on the heels of welcoming my second child to the world. There was no 30 Days of YES in my life. There was no plan. Well, six years later, there is still no plan, but a whole lot of transformation in between. Looking back, it is inspiring to see how the YES was there all along, even before the form had manifested itself.
(Originally appeared on February 6th, 2006)
I’ve been having a hard time recently answering the question so frequently asked when I meet someone, “So, what do you do?” Wow…uhhhh…well…lots of things. That’s the most concise answer I have come up with to date. My wife and I are convinced that our neighbors must assume that we are “trust fund kids” living off our parents…since both of us are at home…and we are often seen together throughout the day running errands with our two kids.
Okay…to get real cheesy here…in a spiritual sense…I feel like I am “trust fund kid.” For almost a year now…I’ve been able to be at home with my family and spend what I feel to be extremely valuable time with my two young kids. Yet, since getting laid-off last March…I have not taken on another “full-time” job.
Why not?
Well…growing up I never saw myself falling into any traditional career track. I was a good student…but not a great student. There was the family business that I could work myself into, yet that didn’t completely light my fire. To be honest, I went to college and got a degree in English mainly for the fact that I enjoyed writing…yet I didn’t really aspire to be an author (of what?) or a teacher (although I would enjoy that). Instead, I graduated from college still not sure of where I would go and what I would do. The more and more I tried to put my finger on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life…the more I realized I didn’t want to do “one thing” for the rest of my life. I didn’t feel like I could pick one path and just do one thing. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who KNOW what they want to do, so they pursue it full-throttle, but that has never been me.
I couldn’t really think of specific jobs I wanted, but I knew there were qualities I wanted to express in whatever work I was doing. I wanted to find work where I would feel proud of what I was doing, actually enjoy the work, have a positive impact on others, have the opportunity to perform or be in front of people, and to feel a part of something special and cohesive.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I feel all of the different things I have done to date expresses most of these qualities in one way or another. So, last March, when I lost my “full-time” job, I was not eager to open up the classifieds, jump on Monster, or run off and take the first paying gig that I could find. Instead, I took the time (and severance) to start to cultivate a number of different job opportunities based on the qualities and skills I enjoyed and am good at.
Where did that get me?
So, I am teaching improvisation. I co-founded a comedy troupe. I have video production freelance work. I conduct two spiritual services a week. I am helping a friend develop a ground-breaking consulting firm. I am blogging for this site. My time is maxed, the money doesn’t meet the ends, but the seeds have been planted. I am just giving them time of grow.
So, what does this have to do with my Spirit?
Everything! In every one of my jobs…I feel a deep spiritual connection to the work that I am doing. I am also relying on Spirit to guide me along the way. I have always turned to my concept of Spirit (God, Love, etc.) as the basis of my decisions…and I have never been led astray. More than a blind-faith, I feel a practical connection that helps steer me to the places I need to be. The best part about it, is that I know I am always connected to Spirit, and no matter how uncertain and bleak my job situation may look, I know that I am surrounded in Spirit. To me, that means that I am surrounded by opportunity, abundance, and guidance.
Why will this work?
Because I know that I am following my spiritual inspiration…instead of being guided by qualities that don’t align with Spirit. It is easy to get caught chasing greed, ego, self, power, etc. Plus, fear is a great motivator that can lead us down the wrong path, and in the end, we are never anymore fulfilled than when we began.
In a lot of ways…my “job situation” could not be anymore unclear than it is now (when you take into consideration salary, benefits, etc.). Yet, I have never been more involved and working on projects that I truly believe in and enjoy. I feel completely engaged with my spiritual self, and I am proud of all the things I am a part of.
So, what would you rather being doing right now? Why aren’t you doing it? And, are those reasons coming from your Spirit…or are they masked as fear, doubt, human reason, etc.?
Be honest.
Travis!
I believe I met you somewhere around this time.
You were speaking about the movie ‘What The Bleep Do We Know?!’ while chatting with some neighbors in the alleyway. My wife happened to be there and that night told me about this very cool, genuinely infectious and inspiring guy I had to meet.
I don’t recall her exact words now, but the essence of it was that you were vibrantly tuned in — and that suburbia wasn’t so barren after all. Oh, and that we had to meet and become friends . . . .
It’s beyond amazing to me now how on purpose you’ve always been, even then in the midst of what others might define as professional turbulence.
FOR ANYONE NEW TO TRAVIS AND 30 DAYS OF YES — take a class, book him to speak. He is the very real and rare deal. He’s got that special spark, that connected-to-something-bigger quality you can’t pin down in words . . . but man oh man you’ll feel so much greater for having had the Travis experience!
Evan