I am covering at the desk of a person who likes inspirational quotes. I started counting.
Twelve quotes or prayers (defined loosely) taped up about the workstation, plus two reminders of how to say things nicely, a yearlong calendar of inspirational quotes ("Just For Today"), prayer flags, Native American symbols, and a picture of the Dalai Lama.
We are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness* - Thich Nhat Hanh
The workplace should primarily be an incubator of the human spirit. Hmm. Trying to get my head around that.
She is one of my favorite people in the building. But she thinks very differently from me.
*What do you do next after you've done that, then? What are we here for once we've done that?
Update: A Ten Commandments bracelet, a "health!" butterfly, and a god-knows-what colored pencil drawing with an eye, an ankh, a row of cherries or tomatoes, stars, and letters that might be Egyptian, captioned "Song of the Dawn." It makes me wonder if the other things have meaning. A small trivet with a willow? A feather? Oh look, a metal fish and a Buddha - I had missed those.
Those can't all have standard meanings. Some of them have to be souvenirs with private meanings. Doesn't they?
ReplyDeletePretty eclectic.
I always liked the Demotivation poster: "Get to work. We're not paying you to realize the power of your dreams."
ReplyDeleteBut I'm a sourpuss, and it's not really that hard for me to understand the mindset of someone who likes cute folksy art pieces and dreamy sayings, though they exasperate me no end.
I shared an office with her for years, and she does regard most of these as deep and meaningful, though a few could be just gifts or mementos from similar friends. Her mother was a nun from Sicily, her father a Unitarian minister. She and her children attend Mass regularly, and she also likes going to Native American sweat lodge ceremonies and AA conferences of a more spiritual side.
ReplyDeleteShe's wonderful, really. As much as I tease her, she has dropped me in my tracks with good spiritual advice at times. When I was furious at my brother-in-law a few years ago, she advised that I commit to pray for him daily, that he receive what I most want for myself in life. It was a painful but correct thing to hear.
More CS Lewis advice: he always said it was crucial to pray for anyone we're quarreling with. Setting aside for the moment whatever we may believe about the likelihood of prayers being immediately granted in a form we can recognize, there's something about praying for someone that makes it difficult to hold on to rancor.
ReplyDeleteJust now I'm praying a great deal for my brother-in-law, as a corrective for my feeling that the best thing he could do for his family is die in the possession of a generous life-insurance policy. I'm not sure I'll conquer my fury with him, but prayer does help.
She sounds great. I like THic Nhat Thanh. By contrast, there are people I know here who have five pointed stars and glory in dabbling in the occult, decorating and dressing in a prettified witches and potions motif. A "church" nearby holds seances to communicate with the dead. I have to remind myself daily to zip my lip and not quote the relevant Scriptural passages condemning sorcery, mediums, and consorting with demons.....
ReplyDeletePraying for people you're angry at...
ReplyDeleteThis works as long as I'm careful not to end up (or start out) praying for them to Receive Wisdom and See The Truth and Agree With ME ME ME, already. Which I find surprisingly easy to slip into.
Praying about something concrete - like their bad back or upcoming test - seems to help with that. Or something totally unrelated to my (large, ever-growing) areas of problem with them, if I can find one.
Isn't that the truth! I find what works is a sort of 50/50 prayer: for the genuine welfare of the enemy for his own sake, and for me to be relieved of (and forgiven for) my rancor. That way it's harder to slip into "Please see to it that so-and-so stops being a jerk, for my convenience."
ReplyDeleteI trust she doesn't and won't know about your blog and this post...as it seems a violation of her privacy.
ReplyDeleteI don't do inspirational sayings; I prefer humor I don't have any, but I am amused by the Demotivation posters.