Callings
by Gregg Levoy
Writing as a Worthy Calling  Posted
Apr-30-2006
Meaning Making and Authentic
Living
Ever since finishing Gregg Levoy’s book “Callings:
Finding and Following an Authentic Life”, the concept
of callings has fascinated me. I am not afraid to name the
multiple callings I feel because I have come to understand
their sometimes fluid nature and will allow them to grow and
change with me. What I feel as a calling in my 30s might very
well transform into something else in my 40s. I will admit,
however, that one calling I’ve felt for the majority
of my life began some 26 years ago: The call to writing.
I was eight years old when I knew that writing was going to
be an important part of my life. It began with the gentle guidance
of my third
grade teacher, who witnessed my excitement every
time she announced that we were going to “do some creative
writing.” From there, I was encouraged to enter the school’s
Young Author’s contest, where I won my first writing
award — second place — for a short essay written
in pencil about a night out at the movies.
The red second-place award ribbon paralleled
perfectly with how "winning a writing contest" was secondary
to what writing itself meant to me. Whatever that “spark
of excitement” was
in me as a child is where my definition of a calling begins.
My young mind did not reason as it does today, understanding
that writing is a way that I make meaning in my life. But I
did realize on some level that the words I put onto paper did
not necessarily have to match up with reality, and a world
of exploratory expression existed through essay, poetry, and
story writing if I chose to engage in it. The immense power
of creativity had begun asserting itself through me, something
I can now look back at and appreciate with awe and gratitude.
When I think about a “worthy calling”, I hesitate
to even include the word “worthy”. It seems that
anything important enough for me to engage in, something that
directs my energy and attention towards creating or “manifesting
potential” in order to make meaning in my life is already
worthy, without judgment. The man who drives around my town
on garbage pick-up day looking for treasures in other people’s
trash to refurbish (or use in his own workshop) may feel called
to restore beauty in what other people no longer value, or
make use of his carpentry or engineering skills through his
hands or brain. It is important to him to reuse
and recycle what already exists in a throw-away world in order
to preserve the environment and our earthly home. His calling
is just as worthy as mine.
What one person translates into a “worthy calling” is
so subjective that defining it for others seems moot. I wonder
if it’s more important to simply engage in the inner
dialogue with ourselves and trust the paths we
are drawn to — the ones that keep us close to living
our most authentic, meaningful lives. •
© 2006 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com.
All rights reserved. |
