Odd jobs January 19, 2009

I had such a wonderful weekend. Sunday B. and I had a lovely, slow morning that stretched out until 1pm, at which time we ventured out on our bicycles. It was beautiful out! Sunny, and almost warm. This January is so dramatically different than our first January in Vancouver, when it rained 29 out of 31 days. This year so far January has been often grey and at times bitterly cold — and snowy early on, though we missed that while we were in Europe — but the past few days have been bright and sunny and rainless. We biked down to a bicycle shop, where I ordered a trendy new helmet, and then over to a sushi restaurant where we had a light late lunch. After we spent just a little time walking around the Drive — my favorite neighborhood in Vancouver — I went to the best yoga class ever. Kyira is just an incredible instructor. We ended with wheel pose, and I felt so solid and strong. After yoga, I stayed on at the yoga studio for a nonviolent communication (NVC) practice group meeting. A few years ago I had an NVC practice group, but I haven’t been in the NVC mindset for a while, so I am excited that the local self-organized punk-Buddhist group is starting a practice group. And I really enjoyed the vibe and the people — I’m looking forward to the next meeting. Then I rushed home — leaving the practice group early, because I had mixed up the timing of things — for dinner; B. had made a yummy Thai curry for me.

The weekend was so nice that I have been able to hold my depression about work at bay, and even now, Monday morning, though I can feel the weightiness of my obligations knocking, I am resisting, keeping the door pushed shut on them. If I can just slide myself sideways into getting something done, something not unpleasant, something that will help me feel competent and productive, then maybe I can cheat the anxiety into drifting off aimlessly into the sunshine.

Meanwhile, in the past few days, I’ve been thinking about other kinds of jobs that I could do. I want to think about jobs that are a craft, that involve the repetition of a process but also a bit of a unique and interesting challenge each time. Jobs that I can do part-time, to keep a focus on my writing. And jobs that are relatively easy to take up anywhere, anytime, so that I can move to Norway (or elsewhere) if I want and easily find work, and so that I can quit to travel and then return and find work. They can’t be so menial that I will be completely bored. I want to work in friendly and sociable work environments. Below is the list of jobs I’ve daydreamed, or that other people have suggested.

-Luthier (guitar making)

-Cutting hair

-Bicycle repair

-Ultrasound lab technician (my friend G. suggested that one)

Dear Reader, please add to my list in the comments below!

I was also wishing, yesterday, that I could convene a Clearness Committee to help me figure out my worklife woes. When I lived at Quaker House in Ann Arbor, MI, I learned about some Quaker traditions. One is a Clearness Committee:

A clearness committee meets with a person who is unclear on how to proceed in a keenly felt concern or dilemma, hoping that it can help this person reach clarity. It assumes that each of us has an Inner Teacher who can guide us and therefore that the answers sought are within the person seeking clearness. It also assumes that a group of caring friends can serve as channels of divine guidance in drawing out that Inner Teacher. The purpose of committee members is not to give advice or to “fix” the situation; they are there to listen without prejudice or judgment, to help clarify alternatives, to help communication if necessary, and to provide emotional support as an individual seeks to find “truth and the right course of action.”

(from Clearness Committees and Their Use in Personal Discernment by Jan Hoffman)

Perhaps I will organize one for myself. Who knows, Dear Reader, I may ask you to be a part of it!