I start a new job tomorrow. My search began about a year ago after finding within the desire for change, for something different, something bigger, and being a ‘yes’ to that possibility. The obvious challenge was having to hear ‘no’ at first. And when I finally heard that ‘yes’, i knew it was going to be the right move.
I won’t go into specifics of where I’ll be (or where I am coming from) in the world of academic publishing. Some of you may know already, but for now I will retain that ‘feeling’ of being anonymous.
What I have been feeling most drawn to discussing lately is my relationship to gratitude. Gratitude (or grace) in the workplace, to be specific: how it can be shaped (and by what); its practice (by myself and others (and how conscious a choice that may be)); and what it can bring (or not).
I get that not everyone can (or chooses to) express gratitude for the work they do, and this is just a personal reflection.
At times it can be hard to locate something to be grateful for at work, call it the antithesis of grace. But even if your work is not particularly stimulating or exciting, or happens to be completely unrelated to the ‘master plan’, there is still something to be thankful for, right?
Namely you have a job…and are not one of the 2.5 million out-of-work, underemployed or on benefits in the UK.
But that in itself is too easy an argument to make. So let’s dive deeper…
Working hard to do as well as I can, and seeing the rewards and figuring out the expectations of others is a constant do and redo process (or in startup terms, perpetual beta). Trying to meet those expectations isn’t always easy (or entirely clear) but eventually they must show their rewards. But what if there aren’t any, not right away at least, how do I compare the entitlements I think I’m due to to the achievements and rewards of the work itself?
There were obviously times in my previous role(s) where things could have gone better, or I had wished for a change in the process in order to make things easier for me, but even through those difficulties, I never forget that I was in a job, doing interesting things, helping authors get published (and in someway contributing to the bottom line of the company).
And did those outweigh the challenges? No, not always, but at the end of every day that was just what had happened in that particular day. I’d be starting the process over again in the morning, and every morning thereafter, so I wold do my best to always be open to the possibility that something may change along the way.
And what had me remember that every day? A simple gratitude practice.
By simply keeping in my mind the separateness of space, work space and personal space, I acted upon or concluded my relationship with my work space by simply bowing and thanking it for what it gave me. Good or bad, right or wrong…it did not matter.
And so as I go forward into my new job, reporting at the office door for 9.30am, I won’t forget how I got to be there, or the people who helped me along the way.
I was giving a miniature pony as a token of friendship recently, one of those things that sits on the top of your pencil…maybe as an eraser.
But anyway, it was given to me by someone who helped me get where I am, so that will certainly be going on my desk to remind me I didn’t get to where I am on my own, but had the help of many along the way.
Grace, baby. Grace.
Digitize We Must! 