I had a provocative conversation recently with Claire Zammit, Founder of the Feminine Power work, as part our Soul Sisterhood community dialogues. We discussed the hard truth that our soul purpose may or may NOT overlap with our career path and how we earn our $. Many of us desire to earn our livelihood from our soul gifts, but that doesn’t always happen (sad but true). And it’s actually OK to earn your livelihood from something that is different from your deepest purpose – especially if you do something (like art or music) that is usually less lucrative.
This was a good conversation for me, personally, because I’ve felt that a piece of my soul offering comes through my music, but I don’t think I’ve even broken even on the first album I put out there, Sacred Alchemy, though many people have told me how much they loved it. And while I’ve felt artistically proud of what I created, I’ve also felt like a bit of a failure on the music front, given I’ve not been validated by the sales figures from my album.
But then I remembered….some of our great cultural heroes, like Martin Luther King or Mother Teresa or Ghandi were NOT very well paid (at all!) for their soul offerings. And yet they made such incredible contributions! So we really aren’t so wise to measure the “value” we contribute by the “money” we earn from those soul offerings.
I know I’ve personally made some very deep contributions to the men at San Quentin where I’ve worked as a volunteer. But I’ve never made a penny there…
Claire also shared about how our desire for self-actualization and our leadership are so deeply entwined. Yes, there’s a NEW form of leadership where we are all being called to create the CONTEXT where we can give our deepest soul gifts and make a contribution. You likely won’t the answer to your destiny path on Craigslist!
That said, we also need to have great patience. Our deepest soul gifts may take a number of years to fully flower, which can be a hard thing to stomach in a world filled with so much instant gratification! Remember, many folks who appear to be an “overnight success” actually have put in MANY years building their mastery…
Anyway, lots of good food for thought in that conversation. AND . . . I’d love to hear other folks thoughts on this topic as well. What’s your own take on this intersection of PURPOSE and CAREER, on following your calling versus earning money? Please share your thoughts below!
