My friend David was a furniture maker who loved his work. He took so much pride in it that he would sign every piece with a wood-burning tool. But—and this is the kicker—he would sign it where no one would see it. Maybe on the bottom of a drawer or the backside of a hutch—somewhere you wouldn’t find it except by accident. It wasn’t because he was prideful but because he loved beauty. He knew that the piece was good enough to sign, not because he did it but because he knew that all he did was to provide an opening for beauty to show up. Signing his name was a subtle “thank you” to the forces that manifested through his determination to bring beauty into the world.
It’s one thing to do perfect work so that people will notice. It’s quite another thing to do good work so God will notice. Perfection for perfection’s sake. Beauty for the sake of the beautiful. It’s putting the goodness itself before one’s ego.
The secret to a satisfying and fulfilling life is to put something greater than you above yourself. Something like truth, like justice, like beauty, where your concern is not what other people think but whether what you do accurately reflects who you are.
The question then becomes, “Who are you?”
This question always comes after a much deeper question: “What do you love?” Because what you love informs everything you think, do, and feel. We know this because when we lose sight of what we love, our lives become dry and pointless. We no longer know what to do.
We lose our moral compass.
I’m not talking about morals as in good behavior but about whether we are being true to ourselves. And I like “being true to ourselves” way more than that rather vague and sometimes misleading word, “authenticity.” Authenticity has a kind of “f**k you, I’m going to do whatever I like” vibe, whereas being true to what you love doesn’t. One is crass, the other is being possessed by the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Big difference.
When someone asks us, “If you could have anything you want, what would it be,” it can be hard to come up with an answer. We shift into prioritization mode and then struggle with getting it right, as though we’re being given three wishes by a genie. We’ve got one chance so we better get it right! But if someone asks what we love, finding the answer becomes a joy because we get to explore our heart’s fondest desires. And who doesn’t like to go there?
The challenge, then, is to find your heart’s desire in whatever you do to put bread on the table. And that can sometimes be difficult.
Julie was a toll booth attendant back in the day when that was a thing. Most of us would consider that to be a dull job. But she loved it. She loved greeting people with a smile and watching their faces light up. To her, that was more important than the hourly wage, which was pitiful, or the monotonous work. She especially loved recognizing the regulars and forming relationships with total strangers. Every time someone responded with a hello and a smile, she felt like she was adding goodness to the world. It was her heavenly savings account.
Perfection comes in many forms. Beauty, too. Where in your life do you have the opportunity to serve the true, the good, and the beautiful? What bit of perfection can you sneak into the world without needing acknowledgment? Where can you give without the need to receive?
Of all the mysteries to be solved, this is the most important one.