Doing Work You Love

   What makes life worth living is doing work you love.  It sounds like a cliche and maybe we haven't all figured that one out.  Maybe we are just trying to pay our bills.  Doing work you love does not have to be something amazing like being a brilliant doctor and finding cures for diseases.  It can be the simple joy of a floral bouquet, well done by the florist, for a boy to give a girl, for their first high school dance.  It's beautiful and the boy feels a little more confident that not only will she like the bouquet, but maybe she'll really like him too.  The florist knows this that's his job; the good part of his job that he loves.  He hands the boy the bouquet in it's simple white box and tells him to have a good time. The florist also says that girls really do like pretty flowers.  He also helps the woman, who in great sadness, is picking out flowers for her mother's funeral.  He brings out three perfect gardenias, their intoxicating fragrance filling the room. Yes, they were her mother's favorite.  She smiles for a minute, thinking how happy it made her mother to receive them every year for her birthday.  The gardenias will be perfect for the arrangements at the wake.  The florist knew how important theses flowers were to her because doing this for her mother eased her grief a bit.  The florist would have to order more gardenias; he didn't keep a lot on hand, but he would find more. It was his job, a job he loved.  Flowers had the power to brighten smiles and ease the pain of losing a loved one.  That's why the florist was here everyday, for the beauty, the creativity, the joy and the comfort they could bring.
     Maybe at eighteen the florist knew he loved flowers and maybe he just inherited the business from his father, but there was a spark somewhere that ignited an interest in him that made this work important to him, to his life. I always thought finding work you love was some sort  of miracle that hit you like a bolt of lightening.  I guess it could happen that way, but for most it hasn't.  Its more likely that interest, that spark, has always been in you, quietly trying to guide you.  It's that satisfaction you felt when you were part of a team of kids in high school that helped build a playground in the low income part of town.  That spark is your intuition giving you signposts along the way to tell you what direction to go in.  Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don't.   For some people, it takes many years to follow that intuition, then one day they go from being corporate lawyers to running a bed and breakfast in Vermont.  So watch for those sparks in your life; those moments when you feel connected to something and feel a sense of accomplishment.  Those are the signals to turn in that direction to the work that you love.
    The main character in my story, Pompeii  Days, comes to this realization after several strange occurrences when she started law school. Mary loves history, particularly ancient history; when she took a few history courses in college she ignored that spark and continued on to law school.  Eventually her love of history prevails and she turns in that direction, which brings her to the excitement of Pompeii and a new love in her life. Happiness in one area of our lives has a way of attracting it in other areas.