Journey to the Heart Chakra
Tonight, as I handed in my badge and scurried out the door to catch the shuttle to the offsite parking lot, I walked away from more than two years at the hospital on a high note. For someone striving to find joy from within, fulfillment from compassion, and the courage to trust the heart above the head, it's just too funny, I can't help but chuckle, when reflecting on my career changes over the last few years. Three years ago I worked in a technical area of operations at Amazon.com, as a manager in "external fulfillment". I discovered the humor in my job title while on a silent meditation retreat some years ago. We spent some time examining our in vain attempts at finding happiness by tweaking everything around us, instead of attempting to tweak our minds. Then one morning, I reached into my pack for a clean T-shirt and extracted a freebie from work. Across the back read "External Fulfillment" above which were pictures, categories of some of the items in which I regularly seek "happiness", such as computers, films, books, music, gifts. Despite the vow of silence, I laughed heartily aloud.
I eventually left Amazon because my health declined, due to many factors, one of which was a poor work-life balance. Leaving Amazon, I handed my badge to my director, who walked me downstairs and bought me a cup of tea. From my seat at Starbucks, I looked back up at the building, pondering the brain-power housed within, and said "can you imagine if all that intelligence and drive was focused on eradicating world hunger or curing AIDS?" David smiled and encouraged me to do just that.
Since then I've been seeking a way to do so, and have held several different kinds of positions, one of which ended in a messy lay-off, another was in a cold, distrustful environment, but this last one was different. It was a warm and generous, team-oriented, fun group with a pleasantly silly and at times dark sense of humor, in the Heart Center. Yes, I went from External Fulfillment to The Heart Center, even if by taking a circuitous route.
I understand that the heart center, or chakra, in yoga and other spiritual traditions based in ancient Indian philosophy, is associated with love, understanding and compassion, as well as positive Yang Chi/Energy and spiritual progress. Seems like a great place from where to launch my next endeavor.
This photo was taken in the neglected parking lot of the abandoned Navy Commissary at Magnuson Park, where hospital employees park and shuttle in. Sometimes I think it could serve as a set for some post-apocolyptic sci-fi film, especially on mornings when the landscape is coated in a blanket of white frost, but in it's desolation there is beauty, even in a dead and dried weed. So maybe there's hope for all of us. He he. Enjoy the last moments of 2005.
I eventually left Amazon because my health declined, due to many factors, one of which was a poor work-life balance. Leaving Amazon, I handed my badge to my director, who walked me downstairs and bought me a cup of tea. From my seat at Starbucks, I looked back up at the building, pondering the brain-power housed within, and said "can you imagine if all that intelligence and drive was focused on eradicating world hunger or curing AIDS?" David smiled and encouraged me to do just that.
Since then I've been seeking a way to do so, and have held several different kinds of positions, one of which ended in a messy lay-off, another was in a cold, distrustful environment, but this last one was different. It was a warm and generous, team-oriented, fun group with a pleasantly silly and at times dark sense of humor, in the Heart Center. Yes, I went from External Fulfillment to The Heart Center, even if by taking a circuitous route.
I understand that the heart center, or chakra, in yoga and other spiritual traditions based in ancient Indian philosophy, is associated with love, understanding and compassion, as well as positive Yang Chi/Energy and spiritual progress. Seems like a great place from where to launch my next endeavor.
This photo was taken in the neglected parking lot of the abandoned Navy Commissary at Magnuson Park, where hospital employees park and shuttle in. Sometimes I think it could serve as a set for some post-apocolyptic sci-fi film, especially on mornings when the landscape is coated in a blanket of white frost, but in it's desolation there is beauty, even in a dead and dried weed. So maybe there's hope for all of us. He he. Enjoy the last moments of 2005.
posted by Dharma Mama at 1:52 AM
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