Meaning
Jer and I climbed the stairs in the Bathurst subway station on our way to the buses. After the staleness of the trains, the bakery smelled wonderful and almost tempting.
"I love finding out why people decide to do things," I said.
Jer agreed, saying that he'd caught part of the conversation I'd just had on the train with a woman he used to work with.
I seem to ask nearly everybody I know why they chose the career they did. Having just met her and found out that she was studying funeral services, I asked her the question. I was curious. The funeral home in my hometown had been run by two generations of my mom's family.
A year before, she and her husband had been all packed to move to North Bay. Her husband is a tatoo artist and he was going to go into business with a friend of his up there. Her grandmother died and she saw the first episode of Six Feet Under while her family was going through the grieving process.
The show is about a family that owns and runs a small funeral home in Florida.
For those who have never seen this show, rent the first season and watch at least the first episode. I've seen all but the current season and it's one of my favourite shows. And the first episode of the first season is very powerful.
She told me that things just clicked when she saw it.
"I knew what I had to do with my life," she said.
She told her husband they couldn't leave, that they had to unpack the house. They did. Now she's in school and loving it.
As Jer and I walked toward the escalator, I said that finding out why people make the career choices they do is reassuring.
"It show me that there's a lot more meaning out there than I grew up thinking there was," I said.
Jer asked what I meant.
"It shows me there are people out there who actually find meaning in their jobs," I said. "The jobs aren't just a way to pay the bills. A means to an end. My dad worked a factory job that he hated so he could support the family. I grew up thinking that that was all there was in the world of work."
I'm not sure why, but the world seems a much better place knowing that there are many people out there who look at what they do as a calling of some sort. An end in itself. I am fortunate to be one of them. But for a very long time I was convinced that the world of work held nothing for me.
"I love finding out why people decide to do things," I said.
Jer agreed, saying that he'd caught part of the conversation I'd just had on the train with a woman he used to work with.
I seem to ask nearly everybody I know why they chose the career they did. Having just met her and found out that she was studying funeral services, I asked her the question. I was curious. The funeral home in my hometown had been run by two generations of my mom's family.
A year before, she and her husband had been all packed to move to North Bay. Her husband is a tatoo artist and he was going to go into business with a friend of his up there. Her grandmother died and she saw the first episode of Six Feet Under while her family was going through the grieving process.
The show is about a family that owns and runs a small funeral home in Florida.
For those who have never seen this show, rent the first season and watch at least the first episode. I've seen all but the current season and it's one of my favourite shows. And the first episode of the first season is very powerful.
She told me that things just clicked when she saw it.
"I knew what I had to do with my life," she said.
She told her husband they couldn't leave, that they had to unpack the house. They did. Now she's in school and loving it.
As Jer and I walked toward the escalator, I said that finding out why people make the career choices they do is reassuring.
"It show me that there's a lot more meaning out there than I grew up thinking there was," I said.
Jer asked what I meant.
"It shows me there are people out there who actually find meaning in their jobs," I said. "The jobs aren't just a way to pay the bills. A means to an end. My dad worked a factory job that he hated so he could support the family. I grew up thinking that that was all there was in the world of work."
I'm not sure why, but the world seems a much better place knowing that there are many people out there who look at what they do as a calling of some sort. An end in itself. I am fortunate to be one of them. But for a very long time I was convinced that the world of work held nothing for me.
