My sweet friend Sarah sent me a surprise: a copy of Marlee Grace’s How To Not Always Be Working.
I love this book. Reading it feels like giving my mind and spirit a hot rocks massage and a warm bubble bath. As Marlee explains in the introduction, she wrote the book for herself. But the more she showed it to friends, the more she realized it could help them, too.
- Isn’t it grand, gratifying, humbling and inspiring to realize the thing you need to give yourself you can also give to others? You can make it into something that will serve others?
The book is an ode to your work – not your job per se, but your work. The definition of that word will be different for everyone: your intellectual property, the things you make with your hands, your ideas, your writing, your children, your house, your garden, your volunteer work, your legacy.
“Work is subjective,” Marlee points out, so a big chunk of the book is about defining what YOUR work actually is. I don’t know what I’ll discover yet! I don’t even know if I’ll share it here – it might feel too personal, and I may need time to get used to it.
Also, work is neutral. It’s not “good” or “bad,” though it can make you feel both those and a lot more depending on… all sorts of things: hunger, tiredness, hormones, feedback from others, your limiting beliefs, unkind inner voices, kind inner voices, encouragement, mentors, external validation, and more.
How To Not Always Be Working is Marlee’s thought leadership. What does that mean? I haven’t broken down thought leadership yet, but here’s what I’m talking about:
- Marlee took the time to MAKE something.
- It didn’t exist before.
- It’s accessible and available to help others
- It doesn’t have to be wholly original
- It makes claims – about your work, your feelings, your purpose
- It includes frameworks for different ideas
Here’s the quote that stood out:
“Today I ate breakfast with my partner and told them a hundred fears have about WHO WILL I BE when this document comes out in a year. I am filled with fear, but the point is, I still show up and I still make things.” – Marlee Grace
You see that? Fear. Marlee was scared, and she showed up and did her work, created, anyway. Perhaps this kind of emotional and intellectual fear (as opposed to physical fear and danger), instead of being a sign to fight, flee or freeze, is an invitation, a sign, the litmus test that you ARE doing your great work.
The more it scares you, the fiercer the green light to keep showing up and doing the work.
