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blogging101, Family, Journaling, Journey 2016, Memories & Reflections, Quotes, Uncategorized, Writing 101
This was the quote from my Daily Calm book this morning (sans picture).
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I LOVE leaves. I love this picture almost as much as I love this Carl Jung quote. I’ve used the quote on here before, but it’s not a quote that I’ve been able to fully grasp. I’m still trying to learn what it means. But I’m getting there. I’ve pondered and pondered it and I’m wondering if it means we have a tendency to want to fit in all the roles our family, our friends, the world wants to put us in.
Thinking back to high school I can see how someone would have assumed I REALLY wanted to be a secretary. I was GREAT at shorthand. I could write 140 words per minute. I knew how to organize any kind of office material. Had been trained on how to run several kinds of office equipment. I had a TALENT for it. I admit that. So everyone pushed me in that direction. In fact, I got a full scholarship to go become a secretary. I did. I ended up working for Utah State University Extension Service — and I hated every minute of it.
The trouble was, no one had asked ME what I WANTED to do with my life. If they had, they would have found I wanted to be an English teacher. I thought… Ok. I was pretty sure. But my folks kept saying, “If you can take shorthand, you can ALWAYS get a job!” (Unfortunately it wasn’t too long after that that shorthand gave way to dictating machines! 
) So for years and years while I worked at being a secretary/office manager, I DREAMED of being an English teacher. It made me unhappy.
I didn’t have the stamina to stand up to my folks and say being a secretary wasn’t what I wanted to do for the simple reason I’d never looked inside my heart to discover if that WAS what I wanted to do. And I’ve come to realize that until we do that, until we get to know ourselves, who we are, what we want, what we DON’T want, everything within our world of roles is likely to remain just quivering dreams because what we REALLY need is to awaken to who we are. Why don’t they have courses about THAT in high school?
Unfortunately I don’t think I was ever encouraged to look inside to discover my purpose. I don’t know if it’s changed in school counselors’ offices today, if young people are commonly given the advice to examine what their values are, their goals, the purpose they feel they may have in life before they make their most important decisions about where to go from high school. Looking inside involves all those things.
I know it’s trendy now to explore your inner world. But I’m not sure parents, teachers, employers are always happy when people set out to do that. They want life to be uncomplicated, tidy. They want folks to be stored neatly in the slots assigned to them so they (the parents, teachers, employers, spouses) can get on with their own lives. Or so it seems to me. And looking inside can often be messy and inconvenient to others.
I don’t know why I’m rattling on about this for the umpteenth time since I started blogging. I guess because deep inside I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. So MAYBE I’ll keep blogging about it till I figure it out? If you get sick of listening, let me know and I’ll shut up. 😉
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(I know why she rattles on and on
about this… She LOVES to hear
herself talk! 😀 Shhhhhhhh…
Don’t tell her I said that. She’ll
put me in a drawer! 😉 )
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Picture Credits:
Quote — VALUES.COM
Girl on road — nomadicalsabbatical.com
Percy — moi
Impromptu Promptlings 
I’m smiling because my counselor advised me to become a teacher because I had children and would have my summers off to care for them. I really wanted to be a journalist.
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I think that’s the biggest mistake young people can make, letting an outsider push them down a career path where their heart is not. So are you doing any specific writing, Hazel?
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Heck yeah I’m so with you here. Why don’t schools promote individualism and following one’s dreams? It would be so wonderful to have one or two classes just playing around with what we’re excited about…what, as kids, we think is cool…anything to get the creative juices flowing and feeling and thinking about what might bring us joy. I believe it’s all going to change and kids will be encouraged to be themselves. One day. I will say this though…after faking an exciting career that left me feeling lifeless, at this ripe age, I’m just where I need to be and finally kicking around with what my passion is, my dreams, using what I’m really good at, and…ugh…stepping up to my fears about it all. Some days I take one small action, on another day I think about it and do nothing. and so it goes…
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Totally on the same page as you. I’m glad you found your bliss there, girlfriend! May it bring you years and years of fulfillment! 😀
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Blogging ’til you fiure it out? In that case I hope you NEVER figure it out – what would we do without you? 🙂
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LOL! Like that’s the ONLY problem I have to figure out? 😀 I’m not going anywhere. What a hoot!
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Glad to hear it 🙂
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I love leaves too. And trees. And their wisdom. Their stoicism. Their bearing witness.
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Trees have so much to teach us. Like if we learn to bend in the storms of life we probably will never break… (Ok, Tanya Tucker sings about that, too! 😀 )
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In reference to your Carl Jung quote there is a Scripture that goes like this: …..”People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
In other words we tend to judge people or situations on what they might look like on the surface (outside)instead of digging a bit deeper, by doing this we might be missing much beauty.
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Hey Leola! Nice to see you. I can see where that verse kind of fits. God was upbraiding Samuel a little there for figuring Eliab had a great resume without looking at the rest of the “stock” (so to speak). [I’ve always thought Samuel was a little full of himself. 😀 I think the prophets and priests in the Old Testament were very judgmental. Look at what happened to poor Hannah when she was praying. Eli thought she was drunk.]
Anyway… God may speak to others in regards to judging us and putting on us the roles they, think are the best fit for us, but Jung’s quote is really addressed to each of us. I feel it’s saying don’t look to others to make your decisions for you or the true longings of your heart will only ever be dreams. We need to dig around inside and find the path that God has set for us. Awaken to ourselves. And I know from personal experience sometimes the people in your life aren’t happy with you when you do that. It’s a between you and God thing.
The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he won’t depart from it, and a lot of parents feel that’s a promise from God that their children will never be parted from the faith. But studying it in Hebrew it means something different. It means to encourage your children in the talents and abilities that are the “natural bent” in their lives, that God gave them. Like a grape vine. You tie up the branches to give them support as they go in the direction they’re prone to, but you don’t mess with the fruit. By so doing, they find where they fit. But doing that requires the child to search their heart for what those gifts are.
(That’s just the way I understand that scripture.)
So although Jung wasn’t using that quote in any religious sense, that’s how it seems to me. That we personally need to search our own hearts to awaken to who we really are in the Creator’s scheme of things. So I guess my slant is a bit different than the Samuel verse. I probably explained that very poorly, but does that make any sense at all?
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We do see it a differently but that’s ok….you are right God is speaking to Samuel there, but in other Scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.You are right Jung may not be using his quote in a religious sense, but God is saying stop looking and judging what is right before you, but look to the unseen, the Supernatural….as God and His Spirit is unseen and resides within our heart if we invite Him in.
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I can see where you’re coming from with the scriptures and I agree. I don’t feel, however, that Jung was speaking about judgment in the quote. I believe he was suggesting we look inside ourselves to awaken to our true paths in life. Believer or unbeliever alike must do this if we are to be at peace with ourselves.
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But yes, the unseen inside of us. That is our journey. (I wasn’t done with that comment. Squirrelly phone!)
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I’m sorry to hear how you were pushed into being a secretary. I think feminism has changed that one for the better, at least. Although women are still just expected to do a lot of administrative support work, even when that’s not their job title!
Nowadays, if anything, I think there is too much “choice” and having to look inside yourself and not enough guidance about what is actually out there. My daughter is a senior in high school and she feels kind of overwhelmed by the choices and responsibilities. Many jobs that kids will have as adults haven’t been invented yet.
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I agree with that too many choices thing. I sometimes wonder if that’s why kids end up getting two or three degrees. They’re just trying out things to see what fits — but possibly without looking inside (likely with some guidance by a counselor) to ascertain where their true interests and gifts lie. Jobs that haven’t been invented yet… Now there’s a mouthful for sure! Hadn’t thought of that.
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1. I will never be sick of listening.
2. “…because what we REALLY need is to awaken to who we are. Why don’t they have courses about THAT in high school?”
YES.
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When I think about 2 I always think about what Plato says about they don’t really want you to do your own thinking and delving into the unknown. That’s why schools have you learn to memorize dates and facts that are essentially useless to life in this world now. (Up throw high school anyway.) On reflection of that I think he’s right,
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When I look/think back….not one person in my life ever asked me what I wanted to do……when my mother became pregnant and had my brother at the age of 39, I was just turning 17. It was assumed and expected that once I graduated, I was to become his baby sitter, unpaid at that…..I was never asked what I wanted to do……truth be told, I didn’t really have a clue except that I wanted to get away…….
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I never felt the need to get away, and that may be part of my “afraid of the future” problem. Had lunch with a friend yesterday who suggested my fear stems from the fact that I never had the opportunity to learn that I could take care of myself. The more I thought about it last night, the more I’m thinking there’s something to that.
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If push came to shove…I think you’d surprise yourself.
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Maybe, but I have a feeling I’ll never know… 🙂
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I remember when my kids were still in primary school they were asked what they would like to do after school. It was to dictate choice of subjects in high school. I was outraged. Neither of my kids still had any idea after they finished school even.I always knew I wanted to be a nurse, yet well meaning friends and family talked me out of it. Until I took matters into my own hands and took up nursing as a mature entry student in my mid 20’s. Such is life – twists and roundabouts and detours. Perhaps its all part of our learning.
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I think we make a mistake when we don’t introduce our kids to the fact that they HAVE choices, that there ARE possibilities they may want to consider. I could have gone back to college after Drollery and I got married, but I had no inkling that was an option for me. I was pretty damn naive…
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It’s not too late! Go and volunteer to assist in the classroom and use all your wonderful writing skills to help students. Do an evening class.
I think we all still wonder what we’ll end up being when we grow up. I’m still wondering. Life seems to give us endless choices and opportunities and we don’t always grab them or take the right one. But there are always more and sometimes I think we have to make our own.
I drifted into teaching but I found that it suited my personality and skills. I loved it and for thirty six years I had a great time and did well. But it was not through any ambition or desire. My desire was always to be a writer and I’ve done that for forty five years. I guess I’ve ben very lucky.
But my motto is ‘do it!’ Never have regrets for the things you didn’t do. Try your best, give it your all and follow your intuition.
You teach English on your blog. You are great at it.
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Well I actually did teach kindergarten for four years. I enjoyed it immensely and was good at it. I also tutored first graders in the Ogden City School district. Worked mainly with immigrant kids. I found it all very rewarding. It wasn’t QUITE what I wanted to teach. I want to help kids fall in love with books. But at least I satisfied my curiosity about whether or not I could do it.
But I was saying to Linda up top there in regards to that Learning To Let Go post… Had lunch with a friend yesterday who suggested my fear of the future stems from the fact that I never had the opportunity to learn that I could take care of myself. I missed that step in my development. The more I thought about it last night, the more I’m thinking there’s something to that. So I guess writing this little posts does keep things shaken up inside my brain!
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And what a wonderful English teacher you’d have been. I’ve never really understood why parents seem to pigeon hole their children into roles. I can understand having aspirations for them, and wanting to encourage them to aspire, but to decide their niche so early on in their life (especially given how fast things change) is crazy. I’d like to say it was a generational thing. But having made it into teaching later in life (I was told I didn’t have it in me to be a teacher) I discovered many parents have some strange ideas about what their children are going to do when they grow up. I remember one girl crying as she asked me – why doesn’t she (her mother) want me to be happy?
Keep writing away Calen, I’m enjoying your exploration of what dreams will awaken inside you.
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I think that’s probably a good guess. Just having come through WWII, I imagine parents wanted to see their kids safely squared away in dependable jobs. I don’t blame them for it. I just was never the brave one in the family. My brother and sister got all that courage. I was a wuss. Still am…
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