Never Before!

There are all kinds of commercial vehicles out on the roads - but I've never seen one like this... A van transporting worms - or "vers" in French.

I assume these are worms sold to fishermen. I've occasionally come across stores that sell plastic cartons of them in the country...

So many questions come to mind:

Who in the city sells worms? Is it a lucrative business?!

Who packages them? (And how?! I can't imagine the worms would just crawl into the plastic cartons...!)

Where do they find these worms? Or do they  "farm" them - the way fish are "farmed" in ponds?

How long are they "good"once packaged?

Is there a "best before date" that expires?!

One final thought: As a former teacher, I imagine that a worm packaging plant would make a memorable field trip for kids... with a lot of animated discussion to follow. (But hopefully no "free samples" to take home on the bus!)

Finally, I googled the company name; it appears to be a thriving business.

(And to think, I would never have wondered about any of this had I not noticed the van!)

Stuck!

What you don't want to run into on a narrow country road when you're rushing to babysit your grandkids!

It looked like grain was being transferred from one vehicle to another. Corn maybe? I don't think they grow much wheat in this part of Canada.

Terry and I sat there marvelling at the size of these vehicles. And we only had to wait about 5 minutes before they let us through.

"Traffic jam" - on a country road!

Useful Work

I was recently looking something up on Google when I happened upon some interesting local trivia. 

I’ll share it in the form of two questions:

Question 1: Who was once called the most useful person in Ottawa?

Question 2: Who called him that?!

The answer to Question 1: The man who was the head plumber on Parliament Hill for over 60 years - Wally Clarke.

Answer to Question 2: None other than Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (father of Canada’s current PM!)

I guess the moral of the story is that you don’t have to be a politician to make an impact in government!

My Multicultural Classroom

One of my goals in life was to travel and see the world, though I really had European destinations in mind.

Thanks to the musical South Pacific - which was popular when I was in high school - and Elvis Presley’s Hawaiian movies - as well as the adventure book, Kon Tiki, which we studied in grade 8 - I was also intrigued by Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands.

Eventually I did visit a few places in Europe. I also travelled to Israel to study - and ended up teaching at an international school there. And after retiring from teaching, I did get to Hawaii.

But my biggest international adventure came during my 40-year teaching career, as I taught students from all over the world. Living in Montreal, I taught English to French-speaking soldiers… In Ottawa I first taught English to international college and university students - then to immigrants from all over the world. 

Here are a few. This group comes from Somalia, Iran, Korea, Sudan, Rwanda and Afghanistan.

The students in the top photo (on a university field trip) are mostly South American.

All shared their personalities - and their stories. All taught me so much!

Like the student who told me that, in her country of birth, because of her religion, she is considered a “non-person”: Do you know what that means?! she asked. It means that in my country, anyone can kill me and not be punished… because I’m not a person!

Another woman was thrilled at the opportunity to go to school. In her country, women were not allowed to be educated…

I learned so much!

What I’m trying to say is: I may not have travelled all over the world, but people from all over the world travelled to my classroom - and they all taught me so much!

 

Memories of ... Christmas Staff Parties!

Terry was recently given this old photo of a staff Christmas party - from many years ago.

Looking at the photo, it appears that women seriously outnumbered men on that staff team - 18 women to 2 men!

Terry commented that the ratio of women to men at the party accurately represented the reality of the workplace.

Looking back on his 30-plus years in social work, he acknowledged that the work was challenging. In fact, "burn out" rates were high. But he stayed on as long as he did (until retirement) because the workers - both men and women - were all very caring and supportive of each other.

Home Office Plus

Like many office workers, our daughter has been working from home since March.

When 9 am comes around, she turns her dining room table into a desk - with two computer monitors ... and sometimes a cat...

Her worst fear is that the cat will accidentally modify an email, then "send"it!

That hasn't happened yet - but the cat sometimes does walk on the keyboard!

Stress Dream

I haven't had a stress dream in years... Why would I? I'm retired?!! Very little to stress about!

In my teaching years, from mid-August to mid-September, as I transitioned into my new teaching schedule, I'd have stress dreams nightly. Once I inquired: did other teachers have them as well? To my surprise, many of us had very similar dreams that woke us up in a panic...

I hardly ever think of school any more, so I was shocked, a few nights ago, to wake up from a very stressful dream. In my teaching years, my dreams would invariably involve my getting lost... I'm walking around in the halls, looking for my classroom - or for a bathroom. (If I eventually find a bathroom, it has no door... and strangers keep walking in...) So I leave in a panic, knowing I'm going to get into trouble for not being in the classroom I'm supposed to be in.

My recent dream was completely different. In it I was taking an exam, but I couldn't read it... the print was too small! Though when someone asked me to explain a question, I was able to do that easily. But somehow I couldn't sit down and write the answer in the exam!

Why this dream?! I wondered after waking up... Did the nightmare have to do with my eyesight, with the fact that I need reading glasses to decipher small print?

Was it caused by having lunch with a few former colleagues and being reminded of school?

Was it a book I'm reading, where a man - an English instructor - is struggling with emotional issues from his past?

Was it the images of people escaping flooding in the Houston area, on last night's news?

I have no idea - but I woke up in a panic and it took me a few minutes to calm myself down again!

Did I Miss My Vocational Calling?

My father was a thinker. In my mind, I can still see him sitting at the breakfast table, coffee cup in hand, reflecting on his life. I have inherited his tendency to reflect. One of the things I often wonder about is whether I missed my vocational calling. All my life, I wanted to be a writer, but, instead, I followed my mother's footsteps and became a teacher. Teaching had been her passion... She never wanted to do anything else. Strangely enough, my longing to write encouraged one of my children to pursue a writing career.

"Work is not primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do, wrote British novelist Dorothy L. Sayers. It is, or should be, the full expression of the worker's faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction."

Reading her words, I wonder if she followed her passion. An early feminist, Sayers was already a young woman when my 96-year-old mother was born. She studied at university before women were allowed to obtain degrees. All her life she worked, supporting herself by writing advertisements, while in her spare time, she wrote the detective novels for which she gained fame. A free thinker in her student years, she later returned to her Christian faith and was active in her church.

What did she live to do? I wonder...
 
What do I live to do?

I think about the essays I wrote in school that made me want to be a writer. Over the years I was also drawn to knitting, quilting, gardening, art, travel... Also religious study, exploring my Christian faith.

All these things have given me - and continue to give me - "spiritual, mental and bodily satisfaction."

Is there one word that would encompass them all?! But then, does a vocation need to be only one thing?!

Familiar Faces

This past week I had lunch with two teachers I used to work with, both retired now, like me. One was visiting from Victoria, BC, so we met up in a popular restaurant near our former school.

Imagine our surprise when, stepping out to leave - we meet the current staff - or, at least, many of them - out for a farewell lunch before heading off for summer vacation.

A beautiful surprise! It couldn't have been planned any better.

The Right Job...?

For much of my working life, I wondered if I was on the right career path. As a child, my dream was to be a writer. My life - as I visualized it - would consist of traveling from one country to another, living somewhere for a while, writing fictional stories about someone who was doing just that - traveling... And then I would move on, to another exotic place...

(I'm not sure what novel or movie inspired this career goal, but that's what it was!)

My career path didn't follow that course. I did travel, but I didn't move often. I stayed, building a life in three or four places. When I thought about writing, I always felt I didn't know enough. And when the time came to look for a job, I always ended up working as a teacher (...and occasionally a secretary)!

"Could I have followed my childhood dream if I had been braver?" was the question that came back to haunt me again and again.

Occasionally I would read career planning books, and wonder if I should change careers... I interned in a newspaper one summer. I could have asked about a journalism job, but the time didn't seem right for me to switch careers...

So all my working life, I (reluctantly) taught.








Recently I picked up another career planning book, intending to give it to a friend who is having career doubts.

But first I want to read it...










 

Early in the book, I found a quiz aimed at determining if a job fits a person's personality.

• I like my co-workers. The choices are: Few Some Most All  (Yes, I liked most of my co-workers when I was teaching. In fact, there were very few I didn't like.)
• People I work with share my values. Again the choices are: Few Some Most All (Again I'd have to say most shared my values - we all valued education and liked people.)
• People I work with respect my skills. Few Some Most All (Again, I'd have to say that very few - if any - ever showed signs of disrespect. So I'd say Most.)

The next batch of questions had to be answered: Yes No or Somewhat. I answered Yes for all:

• My job utilizes my abilities. (Yes)
• My job utilizes my education. (Yes)
• My job is related to my interests. (Yes - especially when I worked with immigrants. I found their lives and stories fascinating!)
• At work, I work on problems I think are important. (Yes - teaching students to communicate clearly is extremely important.)
• I am proud of the role ... I play at work. (Yes)
• I am able to express myself at work. (Yes)
• At work I am rewarded for my abilities, financially and/or through personal appreciation. (Yes)

The more often the answer is Yes or Most, the better the career fits, the book advises.

Wow! I never realized how much teaching did suit my personality!

Strange as it sounds... after doing the quiz, I felt better about my working years. Realizing that I had kept on teaching because I had positive feelings about the job - not because I lacked courage to switch careers - has allowed me close the door on regret.

Manual Labor

I don't do a lot of manual labor. During gardening season I do labor outdoors. These past winter months, I have been laboring once a week is in the pottery studio, at times "fighting" with the clay. It doesn't really feel like "labor" as I sit there trying (in the words of my instructor) to "show the clay who is boss"!

But after my three hours in the studio and my evening sculptural pottery class, I feel exhausted! I have had a workout!

So I read with interest Joan Chittister's definitation of manual labor as a "commitment to the stewardship of the earth... that we bear the responsibility for...in our own bodies."

She adds that manual labor is the great equalizer: "The rich do not sweep faster or better than the poor... Manual labor is humility in practice."

Some Thoughts on "Work"

During my "working days" I looked forward to vacations (and retirement) - times when my life wouldn't be controlled by my 7 to 5 day ... and a tote bag of essays to mark that I always carried around in case I had a few minutes to spare.

Those days are gone - but work hasn't stopped in retirement. The pace, however, has changed: I do what I have time and inclination to do. I no longer push myself, remembering, as one retired friend commented: There's always tomorrow!

I also have more time to reflect on work. I like the Benedictine concept that "work is what we do to continue what God wanted done. Work is co-creative... purposeful and perfecting and valuable... We work because the world is unfinished and it is ours to develop... To have a gift that can nourish the community I must be all that I can be..."

That's true at every age and stage of life - even in retirement! 

That's a Job?!!

My 94-year-old mother grew up in a world with a limited number of professions. There were farmers, of course. (She grew up in a farming community.) She knew teachers, doctors, nurses, construction workers, mechanics and mailmen. She realized that there were secretaries, bankers and insurance brokers. But her world view ended with that. So when I (at age 18) told her I'd like to study art, she retorted: That's for rich kids who don't have to earn a living. Art, like music, were hobbies to her. Nobody made a living doing that.

One of my sons recently became a journalist. It is his third career, in a sense. Now 29, he has worked in sales, as a flight attendant - and one summer, in construction. My mother had no problem recognizing any of these jobs as reasonable work for a young man.

Recently, while sitting in a doctor's waiting room with her, I was reading one of my son's articles in MacLean's magazine.

"What are you reading?" she asked.

"MacLean's. In fact, I'm reading an article Aaron wrote on stamp collecting."

"Read it to me."

So I did.

When I finished, she was smiling: "So Aaron wrote that."

"Yes."

"So Aaron writes for MacLean's."

"Yes."

"What else does he do?"

"He doesn't do anything else. That's his job."

"Really?!!" She looked at me in disbelief. "They pay him for writing that?!"

Work and Passion

Strange the memories that stick in our minds!

The school I attended from grades 5 to 7 had a weekly assembly. I remember marching, with my class, down the hall and into the gym, then standing class by class in our assigned rows. Reciting the Lord's Prayer... (Yes, in a public school...) I remember this last detail because our principal, a stickler for order, taught us to start the prayer not at the beginning, but only after he had said the words, "Our Father..."

It sounds too disorganized if we don't all begin at exactly the same time, he told us. So as soon as I say "Our Father" I want you to continue with me and we'll say the rest together...

(And it's a habit I have kept until today, waiting until I hear the words "Our Father" before I begin.)

Another memory of those weekly assemblies lingers in my mind. When I was in grade 6 or 7, the principal introduced a speaker who told us about his profession. The man was an artist. By day he sold stamps at the downtown post office, but in his free time, he pursued his true passion: painting pictures. I don't remember what he said about his art, but I do remember some of his words...

I suppose you might wonder why I work in a post office if I am a painter... I remember him saying...

Well, a post office is a good place to observe people. They come and go all day... And I use what I see in my paintings.

I reflected long and hard on his words. The thought that you can have a passion for something, but have a job that is totally different has stuck with me for years. It encouraged me when I was busy doing things that were not my passion... And they reminded me that the people I encounter every day - in post offices or grocery stores or anywhere, for that matter - have many sides to their personalities.

Looking back, I wonder if that painter ever gained recognition for his art... I also wonder about my young principal... What led him to invite a painter to speak to us children? Would he have been surprised to discover that the artist's words were long remembered - by at least one student - even though dozens of other assemblies are long forgotten?!

And the Problem is....

Every job has its "stories"... (And I smiled when I overheard this one...)

A hotel clerk checked a businessman into the hotel. The man went off to his room, but returned a few minutes later.

There's a problem with that room, he said. I can hear a faint buzzing noise. I know it will bother me and I won't be able to sleep.

The clerk apologized for the problem and assigned him a different room, down the hall from the first.

But again - a few minutes later - the businessman returned with the same complaint. He could hear the buzzing noise in the second room, too.

So the clerk assigned him a room on a different floor.

But again, a few minutes later, the man returned. Storming over to the front desk he complained: There is a buzzing noise in this room too! I can't believe that a hotel of this caliber would have problems like this! I'll never stay here again!

So the manager accompanied the disgruntled guest to the room. And sure enough, he too could hear a soft buzzing noise. So he phoned the hotel engineer to come and fix the problem.

And he did. After listening carefully for a minute, the hotel engineer bent down and said, The noise is coming from your suitcase.

An electric toothbrush in the businessman's suitcase was making the buzzing noise!

Finding that Perfect Job...

I am always interested to discover what paths lead people to where they are... which may be why I often read biographies of accomplished people.

Recently a friend directed me to an interesting blog - written by a young French fashion illustrator working in New York City. The blog usually focuses on fashion - but in several posts, the illustrator shares her story of how she found her present career...

Her first post focused on her early (high school) job-hunt experience - where her mother urged [pushed?] her to try this and that... Reminded me a little of my own methods when my children were in high school and I wanted them to experience the world of work. But I never went as far as sending them off to teach surfboarding to middle-aged nudists...!

Her second post talks about her university internship - and how a crazy decision (to buy expensive boots for the interview) actually opened a door for her - that turned out to be an important career stepping stone. Perhaps the moral of this part of the story would be: Follow your instincts!

(Now I'm waiting in anticipation for the next installment of her story!)

Finding Delight in Work

Attitude determines so much!

After reading the blog of a young nurse, a self-confessed DOER who is struggling to learn to BE, I had to admit: I too am a DOER.

But the words in her blog that jumped out at me were her concluding prayer... that we delight in the works [God] has given us to do.

Delighting - an awareness that life is a wonderful gift - combines doing and being.

I know I don't "delight" enough!

When I am busy - focused on a task - the work often seems a burden to get through, rather than a joy.

Like another friend, who confided that someone, observing his stern, determined face - and slightly grumpy demeanor - challenged him to think:

I get to do this!... instead of... I've got to do this...

The way we look at it makes all the difference!














So today, as I go out in my yard, which has become a small field of dandelions that need my attention, a task I don't relish facing - I plan to step back and tell myself: I GET TO do this!... (Yes, God has given me a lovely garden space where I can enjoy a physical connection with nature...)

Then as I move on to the laundry and dishes - I pray that I will again step back, pause, and look at all God has blessed me with, and DELIGHT in the work God has given me to do,... amid the people He has surrounded me with... (And the machines that make the work much easier!)

"Think Happy Thoughts!"

A friend - who takes weekly ballet classes for fitness and fun - recounted how her ballet instructor once told the class, Think happy thoughts when you do the steps... You'll do them better...

So instead of thinking - This is hard! Am I doing it right?! - she focused on thinking happy thoughts: I can do it! I can do it!

Only the teacher knows if the class improved by thinking happy thoughts - but my friend confessed that having a positive attitude made the challenge more fun!














Potted plants and flowers fill my mind with happy thoughts in winter... So my house is full of them. And my outdoor flower garden gives me joy in summer!

Joy is infections - smiles encourage - laughter relaxes - enthusiasm gives strength!

We all need enthusiasm to help us succeed.

On a recent trip to Toronto, I met a young woman who had recently opened a flower shop.

Is this really a good time to open a flower shop? I wondered. In hard economic times, do people really spend money on luxuries like flowers?

But she was succeeding... Her joy and enthusiasm were evident as she showed us the small vintage bottles and mason jars she used as vases. She loved the fact that she was able to sell reasonably-priced bouquets and re-cycle lovely old bottles and jars at the same time.

In fact, without any advertising (apart from her blog), she had generated enough business to keep going.

As we left her shop, I turned to my daughter... She loves what she does! I think that's one reason why customers keep coming back... Her flowers are lovely... but they also buy a little piece of her joy!

Finding a Job that You Love...

Finding work we love is one of the most important personal quests we have the luxury to make. I say "luxury" because in some parts of the world people don't have a choice in the work they do - they work to meet the needs of the people who depend on them, doing whatever job is available to them. And sometimes their families dictate what they do. It used to be that way in many of our families in generations past, but most of us nowadays (in North America and Europe, anyway) have the luxury of looking for work that gives us a sense of personal fulfillment.

From my experience (as an adult educator and a career quest-er myself), there are several critical questions to consider:

• What do I enjoy doing enough to spend all day long five (or six) days a week doing it?

• How much money do I want to earn? (Or perhaps, what lifestyle do I want?)

• Where do I want to live?
  

What would I enjoy doing?

Enjoying one's work is one of the greatest gifts a person can have. How can we discover what we would like to do ... all day every day?

One of the most useful resources I ever came across to help me assess what I enjoy doing is a book called What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. It provides thinking exercises aimed at making a person reflect on what they have done in the past that gave them a sense of joy and satisfaction.

Doing these exercises while taking a break from teaching, when my children were young, rekindled my interest in writing. I had considered journalism as a career when I was in high school, but my university experience quickly squelched that dream: I concluded that my writing wasn't good enough for me to be a professional writer. Recalling how much pleasure I had derived from writing (while I was doing the exercises in the Parachute book) encouraged me to consider writing again.

Another way to discover what we truly enjoy doing is to work in a field, preferably before spending 2 or 3 years studying (and then discovering that we don't like the reality of the workplace). I met a young woman recently who was studying law here in Ottawa, after spending several years working for the government. But midway through her studies, she realized she didn't want to be a lawyer either, though she planned to finish. Another young woman I know was fascinated by the idea of creating animations - but when she completed her studies and began to work in the field, she realized she hated sitting in front of a computer all day long, staring at the screen. She also discovered that working with many others on a large animation project - even an artistic one - did not give her a sense of personal satisfaction, as she was one of many "cogs" in the production "wheel."

Internships can give us a taste for the reality of the workplace. I tried one after taking numerous writing courses. One summer I did a brief journalism internship at one of our local newspapers. Was this to be my big break into journalism?! My three weeks at the Ottawa Citizen demystified the journalism process, but I also discovered that, as much as I derived pleasure from writing, I didn't want daily writing assignments which could be edited away if space that day were limited - or if a bigger story came up. I also didn't want to interview people who had just experienced a tragic event, sit at the courtroom, or dig through government data - to get a news story...

So I went back to teaching - realizing that I did love my daily interaction with students, much as I hated the endless marking!

As a teacher, I encouraged my students to try on-the-job learning. Our school had an active co-operative education program, and I recommended it to many. One of my students told me she planned to study nursing, so I encouraged her to do a five-month work placement in a nursing home, as one of her courses, to see how she liked the medical field.

How is it going? I asked her one day.

I can't wait for it to end, she replied. I hated hospitals when my mother was sick. But I thought I had gotten over that. Now I see that I still can't handle seeing so many sick people. I definitely can't be a nurse.

She changed her career plans and became an accountant.

Having seen many students change their career plans after experiencing the reality of the work place, I am a great believer in internships, summer jobs, part-time employment, volunteering and student work placements - anything that gives one a taste of the reality of the workplace environment.

How much money do I want to earn?

This may seem like a strange question! As much as possible, of course! But the reality is that not all jobs earn the same pay! So if your goal is, for example, to "help street people," you may earn minimum wage, working somewhere like a drop-in center for the homeless (where many workers may be volunteers). You will earn more as a social worker (though you probably still won't drive a Mercedes Benz and live in an upscale neighborhood). Your chances of getting rich would be better if you were a lawyer, perhaps on the board of directors for a shelter for the homeless, or owned a successful business - where you could partner with organizations that help homeless people get back into the workforce.

I remember reading about a man whose dream was to be a professional dancer - but he realized that (given his talent) he couldn't earn enough money to live. But he didn't give up his dream. Instead, he found a job that met his financial needs yet gave him the flexibility to pursue dancing in a serious way, though not as his main source of income. Artists, actors and writers often do the same thing.

Realizing this was liberating for me: I could still be a writer - yet not depend on it for my family's financial needs. So I wrote part-time, not earning a lot, but satisfying my creative urge to write.

Finally, where do I want to live?

Every job has a location. When I was studying at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, there were a lot of engineering students on campus, many studying mining engineering. But if you become a mining engineer, you will probably spend your life living near a mine in the mountains... Similarly, if you want to work in publishing, you will probably only find work in a major publishing center like Toronto or New York...

It may not seem important, but I have heard of marriages breaking up because one partner didn't want to live where the other needed to work... Of course, some jobs (medical, educational, mechanical, and so on) are needed everywhere!

It isn't easy to find the perfect job - but it is worth the effort to try!