You Say Employment, I Say Fulfillment

The new year hasn’t exactly gone the way I had expected thus far. An ear infection that I brought home from Colorado sidelined me last week, and while it hasn’t completely “unplugged” yet, I’m on the mend. The down time has afforded me the opportunity to reflect upon my blog and where I want to go with it. As I’ve said many times before, blogging is a ridiculously cheap form of therapy that benefits me greatly even if it doesn’t do anything for anyone else. 2010 is the year that I hope to semi-retire. I say ‘semi’ because I’m among those baby boomers who don’t expect to ever be able to fully retire from some sort of employment to supplement the income. And, because of the leukemia, I am admittedly retiring as early as I possibly can because I want to live each day to its fullest. The whole proposition has led me to recall the distinction made during confirmation between ‘vocation’ and ‘occupation’. An occupation is employment that brings in the necessary income. Vocation is the “calling” to one’s reason for being. I had those wonderful fifteen years in the active ministry when my occupation and vocation were very nearly the same. In looking to the future, I’m hoping that such synchronicity might still be possible. While I know I’m not supposed to, I envy those who exclaim that they can’t believe they’re being paid to do what they love.