Where am I being called to to live my best life? That is my vocation.
Dear friends,
I am in a peculiar season of my life. It is a time of transition for me— a time of in-betweens.
On one level, I am in-between jobs. In May this year, I left the security of my old job in the hopes of finding a new job that better suited me.
On another level, I am in-between late adolescence and early adulthood. I am slowly navigating the transition from being dependent on my parents to becoming fully independent.
In this liminal or in-between space between what was and what could be, I find myself spending more time in deep reflection.
Where am I going with my life?
What do I really want to do with my time here?
These are some of the questions I have been asking myself.
My time spent reflecting has led me deeper and deeper into the wild and rich landscape that I find in my heart. This is an ecosystem where desires roam, fears lurk and loves blossom.
As I have come to explore this colourful and messy terrain within me, I have grown in awareness and appreciation of myself. I have come to realise what it is I deeply value and what I desire most deeply.
Without going into too much detail, I shall share that I deeply value the people in my life whom I treasure: my family and my closest friends. I also deeply value several virtues I hope to cultivate in myself, namely, kindness, care, sincerity and joyfulness.
Still, at the most fundamental level, there is only one thing that I really desire and value: my vocation. All the other desires and values are all wrapped-up and included in this one and ultimate desire: the desire to live my life as richly and as fully as I can.
The meaning of vocation
Vocation is not a word you hear everyday. Most people are likely to hear the words career and profession used often instead. Yet, a person’s vocation is something deeper and more fundamental than their career or their profession. So what exactly is a vocation?
Simply put, a person’s vocation is their calling in life. The word vocation is derived from the Latin vocare, meaning “to call”. Therefore, asking someone what their vocation is is equivalent to asking them the weighty and serious question that goes “What are you being called to do with your life?”
The question may be uncomfortable to consider, or it may seem too broad and vague to even be worth considering. Nonetheless, I believe that the question of vocation is an important question to ask ourselves.
After all, how do we know our lives are moving in the right direction if we have not defined what ‘the right direction’ is for us?
Vocation, according to John O’Donohue
The late Irish writer John O’Donohue explored the idea of vocation in a beautiful yet succinct way.
I doubt I can explain it better than he did, so here are some excerpts from his book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings.
What is a vocation?
The notion of vocation is interesting and rich. It suggests that there is a special form of life that one is called to; to follow this is the way to realize one’s destiny. Following one’s vocation ensures that what you choose to do finds itself in harmony with your inner nature. It also means that this is the optimum way to unfold and develop whatever gifts one has.
John O’Donohue
Do vocations change?
The nature of the calling can change over time, taking a person down pathways never anticipated. The calling opens new territories within the heart; this in turn deepens the calling itself. The faces of the calling change; what at the beginning seemed simple and clear can become ambivalent and complex as it unfolds.
To develop a heart that is generous and equal to this complexity is the continual challenge of growth. This is the creative tension that dwells at the heart of vocation. One is urged and coaxed beyond the pale regions into rich territories of risk and promise.
John O’Donohue
Will finding my vocation make my life easy and all smooth-sailing?
A vocation does not clear before you a smooth path through difficulties. Having a sense of one’s vocation does not in any way relieve one of the travail and turbulence of being human. Indeed, being true to one’s vocation can often require a level of generosity and risk that will cause great suffering, for more often than not there is no surge of light to clarify direction; the light on offer is enough to guide only the next step.
John O’Donohue
What does it feel like to finally live one’s vocation?
It is such a relief and joy to find the calling that expresses and incarnates your spirit. When you find that you are doing what you love, what you were brought here to do, it makes for a rich and contented life. You have come into rhythm with your longing. Your work and action emerge naturally; you don’t have to force yourself. Your energy is immediate. Your passion is clear and creative. A new calling can open the door into the house of vision and belonging. You feel at home in your life, heart and hearth at one.
John O’Donohue
Any further advice?
The great law of life is: Be yourself.
John O’Donohue
John O’Donohue’s words are rich with a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the idea of vocation. I hope they will guide and inspire you as much as they have done so for me.
Closing
I feel that the idea of vocation is a very powerful idea for me. When I ponder the question of my vocation, I shift my perspective from seeing my life from a utilitarian point-of-view to a more holistic paradigm. I move away from measuring my life only in terms of what I can produce and earn. Instead, I begin to consider many other things: my passions, my joy, my gifts, my longings and where I desire to serve the world.
At the end of my life, I want to be able to say that I lived my life fully. I want to be able to say that I lived my life with a wild love for the world and that I actively worked to make the world kinder, healthier and more peaceful. I want to be able to say that I lived life with joyfulness and vitality.
For me, a vocation is no more and no less than the direction I must travel in so that I can say that I lived well.
A vocation is like a compass in our hearts. Our vocations point the way to where we belong and where our presence is sorely needed. If we are willing to search our hearts for it, we will find it. If we are willing to follow our vocations, we will be able to live (and die) in peace.
Friends, may you gain clarity in your search for your vocation. May you also have all the courage you need to pursue it, all the way.
May you know peace.
May you know healing.
May you know joy.
And may you know love.
With warmth,
Julian
Julian JP Lee 
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