a well-lived life; hoping to have one

[lauradi7dw]

Bill Meikle died in late December.

He was best known in the Boston area for portraying Ben Franklin, but I mostly found him a great example of empathy and of how to live (including specifically how to live with a terminal illness).
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/12/29/bill_meikle_as_ben_franklin_he_found_a_future_in_our_past/
I had a slight acquaintance with him but certainly didn't know him well. Still, when I saw the notice about his memorial service, I immediately decided to go. It was this afternoon. It lasted almost two hours, so I got home later than I had expected. Arthur asked how it was, and the first adjective that popped out was "amazing." Its superficial form resembled most UU memorial services - music, readings, and recollections from friends, colleagues, and relatives.
Still, not at all usual. Most services don't feature a life-sized stand-up photo of the deceased on the dais. He had specified that nobody should wear black, and that it should be fun. The second song (after two different people had made a point of mentioning that Bill chose all the music) was a call-and-response kids' song that had the whole SRO congregation up singing and doing the hand gestures.
http://www.danzanes.com/familydance/chords/FDallaroundthekitchen.txt
Well stop right there
Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo
Put your hands in your hair
Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo.

Clearly, though, he had lived well and done his proper work and spread a lot of love and learning around.

By coincidence, Anabel Graetz and I ended up sitting in same pew. We waved at each other at a music event in December, but it had been a long time otherwise. She asked how I was and I said that I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. She thought for a second and said "you were doing that the last time we spoke." That would probably have been
a dozen years ago. Not much personal growth on my part, but I am starting to work on it more seriously.

Comments

[dvmp.livejournal.com]

There is a certain beautifulness to going through life never knowing what you wanna be when you grow up. Let me know when you figure out what to do next, maybe I can pick up some ideas.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I made peace long ago with not knowing. In my last semester of college, I considered applying to grad school in city planning (!) because it seemed like a cool thing, in a vague sort of way. The professor I approached to write a recommendation for the application said that he thought what I needed to do was to find a flaming passion, not waste time and education on something that didn't really move me. I realized he was right, and that I really didn't have one (fp). I was content for a long time having a job rather than a career, but now I'm not sure even what I *could* do. I've started reading self-help books. Last week I did a quiz that was two pages long about my strengths and skills and so forth. I only checked off 2 or 3. Pretty discouraging. For a couple of years we've had a New Yorker cartoon up on the fridge where you see someone in a job interview situation. He says "I've got some skills - I'm just not sure they add up to a set."
I had thought of going for an MLS degree, but it would cost thousands of dollars and I'm not sure I could get a job afterwards.
In the meantime, I sit around in my empty nest and brood (joke, unintentional). I've started working on getting chosen as a "guide" at
http://www.chacha.com - I am on the internet much of the day anyway - but I don't really count as an expert searcher.
This is interesting, but I am not sure where it would lead.
http://www.idealist.org/

[(Anonymous)]

I made peace with my 'job' vs. 'career’ decision a long time ago. I think most folks have no real passion about what they do to survive. Those that seem to start that way, fall even harder when the ‘doing what you love turns to a job’ effect hits. It seems to me to be a very American concept of identifying yourself by your job vs. by who you are. My wife keeps urging me to find a job that will stimulate me, but I have been running away from that concept with the usual excuses for 20 years. At this point I am not sure I could really do it. I am so used to cantankerously grumbling about my job that I am not sure how I would react if I actually loved going to work in the morning.

NOT ANONYMOUS..JUST NOT LOGGED IN

[dvmp.livejournal.com]

I made peace with my 'job' vs. 'career’ decision a long time ago. I think most folks have no real passion about what they do to survive. Those that seem to start that way, fall even harder when the ‘doing what you love turns to a job’ effect hits. It seems to me to be a very American concept of identifying yourself by your job vs. by who you are. My wife keeps urging me to find a job that will stimulate me, but I have been running away from that concept with the usual excuses for 20 years. At this point I am not sure I could really do it. I am so used to cantankerously grumbling about my job that I am not sure how I would react if I actually loved going to work in the morning.