What it's Worth

I mentioned in my last post how the end of the year was a bit too busy for me, and how I'd have to make some changes if I wanted to make money at my chosen profession.

Being involved heavily with TED talks, specifically, my own community's TEDx Event, was important for both the community and my personal growth. Without exception, every attendee I have spoken with has told me how great it was that our small city had a yearly TED Talk event, and how eye-opening, uplifting, or inspiring it was to attend.

Another late-in-the-year event that took a lot of my time was a one-time job with a tight deadline before Christmas. It came with some headaches, but was worthwhile work and paid me, though not well. Sounds like something I should be doing more often, right?

I don't think I'm crazy for wanting to get more paying work. Further, in the Autumn, I wanted both time to do craft fairs on the weekends (to make a little money), and some availability for longer freelance gigs (to make a lot of money).

Except I got to thinking, and something rather amazing happened; maybe I had it all backwards.

My tight-deadline paying gig was to help design a community-friendly version of the Ferguson Report. Yes, THAT Ferguson. A very long, very detailed, very comprehensive study was undertaken by countless professionals and citizens of Missouri, in order to make sense of the tragedy that happened in 2014, and to help their city, state and country heal, learn, grow, and improve relations regarding race, poverty and mutual respect.

That's heavy and serious stuff, and I was happy to work on it, despite the obstacles encountered. The fact that Martin Luther King Day has just come and gone was not lost on me, as I spent part of my day wondering what was important in my own life, and how 2016 could be my best year.

Am I smart to give up working on a wonderful community event, one that has helped me grow, both personally and professionally? Won't the connections I make and the people I meet eventually begin paying larger dividends (for my soul, if not for my wallet)? In fact, I got the Ferguson job because of my TEDx connections.

Or had my time with TEDx run its course? Won't there be new challenges, new groups, and new organizations that will help me reach my goals? I have to believe that there will be. I want to love what I do (so that all of this struggle won't have felt like work). And I want to follow my bliss, as I believe that's where my true happiness will be found.

I suppose I've realized something: I've got to maintain connections to organizations in my community and the to things I care about. While it's tempting to focus on making money, sometimes it's about being rewarded.