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Prajna O'Hara's avatar

Hello Jen, What a rich and self-aware reflection. Truly a teaching story.

I love how clearly you name what so many of us do unconsciously—crafting a persona just to navigate the terrain. It’s true: sometimes it’s about survival, sometimes strategy, sometimes a strange kind of artistry. And your reminder to leave wiggle room—to realign or reorient—is so wise.

That line about not getting too attached to the wrong situation struck me. I’ve felt that too—that outsider vantage point can sharpen our insight more than years of comfort ever could. Thank you for this. It’s a powerful reframe for how we carry ourselves inside the work we do, and who we are—behind the roles.

Thank you for being in this community with us. "Paths are made for walking." Yes.

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Hallcarlo's avatar

This is a great meditation on work. I've cycled through jobs, and for years this carried a strange, opaque shame. Why couldn't I find the thing? My purpose! My perfect spot to excel! Although many successes came and went, the wiggling feeling that I was doing it all wrong persisted. Writing puts space between the feeling and the experience. A focus on that space, rather than the scope of "job as life," eases the tension. Meaning is often found, for me, in the space between, not in the thing itself. Finally, someone (it was my therapist) appointed me the title "creative seeker," and that felt a little more snug and secure. Anyway... I'm going to give this prompt a go. And it brought to mind A&P by John Updike — a masterful example of finding mystery, wonder, and growth in the mundane moments of the job.

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