May 2024
I know, what in God’s name is this woman talking about?
Hear me out.
I’ve been in lots of conversations lately in my various roles (full-time, part-time, volunteer, etc.) about getting things done. It’s something I do, which is why people ask me to do lots of things. (And then I burnout but that’s my problem that I’m here to grow through…)
I’ve never known an idea that I couldn’t get done. I have many gifts and one of them is taking any idea and finding a way to make it a reality in the physical world. Especially if it’s for other people – for myself, well that I’m still working on 🤣
This has been challenging on multiple levels because I can’t keep myself in a silo. I feel it limits my knowledge, understanding, perspective and scope. And I believe knowing ALL the parts and pieces that contribute to something are important. Especially the things that people think are unimportant – I assure you, they are likely the most important things.
There’s many times where tasks feel vague and uncertain, where tough decisions need to be made and what “the work” is must be defined in practical, task-able terms. There is conversation and more conversation and then questions and research and then more conversation…
I have noticed: There are people that like to TALK about doing the work and people who well, actually DO the work.
We listen to people on TV, read about them in books, magazines, newspapers and then listen, see and read about these same people in ridiculous amounts of outlets online. They are the people we gauge ourselves by, they are what we know. All the celebrities, all the mega billionaire tech people, all the sports stars, extremely exclusive, specific jobs and roles that rely on a bunch of other people to do what they do.
I’m not saying these people don’t work hard and don’t have challenges of their own. They do.
But who is doing THE WORK?
You know, the planning, the arrangement of people to all arrive at the same time, the setting up for the interviews and these movie shootings, the cleaning up of the stadiums and event centers, the people making sure the other people are in place to do all the things…
You know, THE WORK.
We have a LOT of work we do as a society. Now you don’t just have the job that you do. You have to be a presence, you have to promote yourself. Network so you can have a support system so if that job you do happen to have disappears, you have people looking out for you. And to look better to your job, boss and network, you need to be available or accessible. On top of, you know, your actual LIFE (outside of work, being there for family, friends and the people that rely on you.)
So much of what we do to keep it all going, is THE WORK. And ain’t nobody going to LIKE, HEART or promote that you took out the trash today for the second time. Or that you took the time to check the spelling and grammar of the report that your entire team was working on that is due tomorrow and that no one has looked at in weeks.
Or in my case, doing the BLEEP journal entry.
It’s not flashy, it’s not Instagrammable, everyone has the chores and the things (or they pay people to do the chores and the things – hopefully at a wonderful rate that doesn’t belittle the support work and the people doing it.) This is the WORK.
Sometimes (more often than not), you just have to do the journal entry. Write the email. Pick up the clothes. Take out the trash. Clean the floor.
There can be inspiration in it – I’m sure some have succeeded. But we seem to want to run away from everyday life, from the acceptance that THIS (the cleaning, the “drudgery”) really is everyday life. That this is where we are formed, where the magic really happens.
Because if we aren’t doing THE WORK (or paying someone what they are worth to do it), there’s no foundation to build from.
I love my trash pick up person. I don’t know he/she/they because they come REALLY early every Wednesday morning (like sometimes prior to 5 am early). They make sure my house stays clean. If you have never had to drive your trash down to a station (or figure out how to get rid of it without a station), it seems like there’s a “magic trash fairy” and that’s just how things are.
But it’s never “how things are.” People are doing THE WORK. And there are people behind the people doing THE WORK, who are doing THE WORK. Getting up early and picking up the trash. Planning the route so everyone’s bin is empty by mid-morning. Cutting the lawns, cleaning the halls, fixing the plumbing, planning for your route to work and your day to be as easy as possible for you…
Sometimes you gotta do the BLEEP journal entry. That’s what makes the world go round…and brings the ideas to life. That’s what ideas are for. To be inspirational, to be an experience, to make us think. And behind every idea is likely hundreds if not thousands of people, doing THE WORK.
Every day, that’s what gets you where you want to go and places you didn’t think you could.
