Vocation: In a Place Right Next to You
02.17.2024 | 29205
For Reflection:
Where do you feel you most belong (either in a work setting or not)? What aspects of this place contribute to that feeling of belonging?
Where have you experienced the most self-growth?
Where do you feel your skills are most useful? Where do you feel your passions are most understood or shared by others?
Do you think we can choose our vocation? Or is our vocation something inherent to us?
Does being around others reassure your sense of purpose? Or do you find yourself comparing your goals with those of others? Does it depend on who you’re around?
How do your particular skills and passions relate to the place you’re in right now (life stage, work setting, family/community, etc.)?
If you have ever moved homes, have you found your new place to be instrumental in creating a renewed sense of vocation?
When I consider how my vocation has evolved and become clearer over the past year, one moment from 2023 sticks out in my mind the most. I sat in the Minnesota Senate’s Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention, next to one of my residents while he shared his story with legislators from across the state. Just one month prior, he had set foot in the capitol building for the first time. That day, he remained quiet and reserved. I knew from my many conversations with him over the course of the previous 18 months that he often felt overwhelmed in crowds, and he experienced anxiety speaking in front of other people. But on this day, just a month later, he sat in the testifier’s chair and shared his story. He was being brave and bold. And I sat next to him.
In that chair, I felt more in tune with my purpose than I ever had before. Working with the residents of my organization, truly listening to them, reassuring them of the value of their experiences and the power of their voices – these responsibilities required me to be brave and bold, too. The residents and the program I ran pushed me out of my comfort zone, too. And above all, this work required us all to be in relationships of trust and encouragement with one another.
Some of the residents required more support from me than others. But they all needed someone to answer their questions and handle the logistics. They all needed someone to accompany them on the trip to the capitol. In that chair before the Senate committee, I realized that I felt content. I felt absolutely no need to be the person testifying. Being someone’s support system, walking with them through the growth needed to get to this point, was more satisfying than being the center of attention would ever be. To witness someone’s growth and be the person they leaned on for support through that process – that was enough.
I think about that moment, with that resident, often. Many moments led up to that day, and many moments followed – some of them better than others. Not all of our story together is positive. But when I consider what I hope to do with the rest of my life, I hope it will involve getting back to that place - that chair next to that resident, as they are brave and bold.
This is accompaniment. For me, sitting in that chair is about being the person someone else can lean on. It is about sharing in the value and worth and power of someone’s story. It is about the three-hour long conversations I expected to last 15 minutes. It is about the deep relationships these conversations lead to — relationships that have the potential to last the rest of my life.
This place of accompaniment is, perhaps, a nebulous place. But I know when I’m in it. I feel myself fall out of the overthinking and worrying that is so common for me, and I feel calm. I feel in tune with my body and my proximity to others, and I feel the shift in others as they become, ever so slowly, more sure of themselves. And no matter how nebulous this place may seem, I know this place is not in my head – it is not imagined. This place is deeply relational and is, first and foremost, about the way I am connected to others. It is the place where my skills and my passions meet the needs of my community around me.
I wonder: where do you feel most in tune with your vocation? How does this place relate to your skills, your passions, and, perhaps most importantly, your community?
Until next time, friends.