If your heart cannot find a joyful work, then the jaws of this world will probably grab hold of you.
If you find something to call "work" that you're passionate about, you'll never need a "job". If you arrive at work with people who welcome your spirit and enrich it, this will be your second home. Your work should be fulfilling, uplifting, satisfying. This is not the case for everyone, but it is a lofty pursuit worth chasing after. Rilke once said (though the exact quote I cannot re-find because I was working off of the original German edition using google translator) something to the effect of: "Find something you would live and die for. Make that your work. If it is not, ask yourself why?"
Many "free spirits" deal with negative connotations that accompany someone who will frolic around in life, instead of settling with one person, in one place, putting down roots, and making their way into the workforce. Conversely, I wonder how many "free spirits" are truly happy? The kind of happiness that Emily Bronte describes can only come from a "chainless soul".
Maybe chainless soul is not necessarily a descriptive quality of a person, but a comforting commonality that we can all know and enjoy. Maybe it just means that your soul always has the potential to transcend your physical body weaknesses, your earthly circumstances, various verbal attacks, goals set for you by society, etc. such that the jaws of this world will never grab hold of you.
If you find something to call "work" that you're passionate about, you'll never need a "job". If you arrive at work with people who welcome your spirit and enrich it, this will be your second home. Your work should be fulfilling, uplifting, satisfying. This is not the case for everyone, but it is a lofty pursuit worth chasing after. Rilke once said (though the exact quote I cannot re-find because I was working off of the original German edition using google translator) something to the effect of: "Find something you would live and die for. Make that your work. If it is not, ask yourself why?"
Many "free spirits" deal with negative connotations that accompany someone who will frolic around in life, instead of settling with one person, in one place, putting down roots, and making their way into the workforce. Conversely, I wonder how many "free spirits" are truly happy? The kind of happiness that Emily Bronte describes can only come from a "chainless soul".
Maybe chainless soul is not necessarily a descriptive quality of a person, but a comforting commonality that we can all know and enjoy. Maybe it just means that your soul always has the potential to transcend your physical body weaknesses, your earthly circumstances, various verbal attacks, goals set for you by society, etc. such that the jaws of this world will never grab hold of you.
True North (2013), Jillette Johnson
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