I had plenty of roles and responsibilities within our Ontario, Canadian home prior to my first employable job, but the work did not put money in my personal BMO bank account. Following my 9th birthday (1971) I became a paperboy for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper company. Over four years, daily I cut through our neighbors’ backyards to the corner of Richmond and Cherrywood Drive to unwrap a news bundle, tri-fold each paper, and organize them in a tote bag, red metal wagon, or a sled on the snow-covered winter streets.
I wouldn’t erase this youthful experience for all of Elon Musk’s gifted intelligence. It grounded this curious boy, compelling me to go straight home after school, not a friend’s house to watch Gilligan’s Island, because families would be awaiting their beloved news of the day (no social media, no cellphone, about 25 years before the introduction of the internet). With the exception of a few memorable immature moments, I earned their respect ultimately becoming their weekly lawn maintenance mule, dragging dad’s lawnmower throughout the neighborhood rumbling along the blacktop roads with an electric cord wrapped around my neck.
Jobs, communicating with those you serve, shoulder to shoulder with co-workers, fulfilling your responsibilities, and earning a paycheck grows a person. Patience, kindness, work ethic, desire, and, yes, curiosity take root. The first job, such as being a paperboy, sprouted wonder and imagination leading to a spirit of inquiry about another job, another experience like mowing lawns. It made me think of Laura Numeroff’s brilliant children’s books that script ‘If you give a ___________ a ____________, then they’ll want ______________.’ My favorite is ‘If you give a Moose a Muffin, he’ll want some Jam to go with it …’.
So it goes, just like one job after another, down a rabbit hole of pursuits previously inconceivable. This is the treasure of letting go, giving up tight control – one of life’s elixirs. Whether you’re sick and tired of a job or it further stimulates other interests, an unplanned unknowing serpentine expedition is launched. It weaves its way to where you will be tomorrow, next week, month, year, and decade. Stories are awaiting to be told🧾.
The phrase ‘Work to live, not live to work’ resonates within me. But, the blessing of fulfilling, failing, and accomplishing tasks and goals when working is essential, a backbone to a life well lived whether it be voluntary, paid, or forced labor (as was the case in our home when I was a wee-one 🤬).
For this reason, once a week I’ll be revealing my curious contemplations related to over twenty-five jobs, varying duties, lessons, and bosses from 1971 to this present day. I look forward to unpacking this odyssey with its braids forming this man, my career, and my copious curiosities. We all have them, big and small.
Take care, my friend 👍.
