Meaningful Work
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience: We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Many moons ago this quote was written on the side of a wooden building I lived in. I was reminded of it again last week when called back to my florist’s profession where I had to roll up my sleeves and get more physical and creative than I’d been for a long time for an event that would be over in a day. Sometimes this feels like a waste of time, a pointless exercise, a ‘what am I doing this for’- especially at the end of a long tiring day. But then, when engrossed in the bridal bouquet at the end of the week, I consciously realised that this was sacred work that we had been doing. It had been given to us to bring the right flowers to the celebration of two people’s deep love and commitment for each other as they tied an eternal bond. There was a reason I was here on a deeper level and everything felt all right again. And I realised that for life to feel good it needs to be meaningful.
Mostly I am doing ‘work’ that so obviously helps with the well-being and health of other humans that I don’t have to be reminded of my connection to ‘spirit’. But when your ‘work’ isn’t so obviously connected it is good to remind yourself of why, on a deeper level, you are called to do what you do – and don’t panic – there is always a reason but sometimes it takes a while to realise what it is. Serving humanity - in whatever way, bringing more love into the world, making the world a more beautiful place, bringing grace and meaning , supporting others in their dreams of a better world, creating a space for things to move forward etc etc etc – the list is endless but when you look deeper you will find the meaning , the reason, the 'spirit'.
I think the point I am trying to make is that whatever we are ‘doing’ in life there is always a spiritual/sacred element to it. It feels like it is time now to be more aware of this in our day to day lives. To bring more depth and understanding to our existence, to bring more awareness to the fact that we are spiritual beings and that, in itself, is enough….. The being human bit can be tough sometimes I know – but luckily we have the energy of the flowers to help with that and they have a lot to teach us about sacredness, spirituality and finding meaning in the lives we live and what we do.