In one of the books I
had to read last week, I found this lovely poem.
Work
There is no point in work
unless it absorbs you
like an absorbing game.
If it doesn’t absorb you
if it’s never any fun,
don’t do it.
When a man goes out into his work
he is alive like a tree in spring,
he is living, not merely working.
D. H. Lawrence
Taken from: Ribe, R. and Vidal, N. (1993). Project
work. Heineman, Oxford.
When I first read this poem, it reminded me of a post
I once saw on Facebook. Both texts speak of doing what we love in order not to
feel that earning our daily bread and butter is a burden. Personally, I
agree with the essence of the words, life slips through our fingers while we
try to meet society standards. Moreover, most of the time, we do not even stop
for a moment to think about our own dreams and desires. But is it that easy to live by this principle? I
believe that we do not have the freedom to do it. May be small wishes can be fulfilled
but unless we have someone or something to lean on, our deepest dreams might
always be just that.
Once I read the poem I tried to
find it on the Internet. The text I originally read is nothing but an extract and the
complete poem speaks of much more than this. I have no words for it. I merely
share it with you. (You can read the entire poem here )
AILIN! I´M SO GLAD THAT YOU HAVE SHARED THIS POEM! I HAVE NEVER READ IT AND I LOVED IT , THE PART I ENJOY THE MOST WERE THE FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS. I FEEL LIKE THIS EVERYDAY WHEN I GO TO WORK, OR AS I SAY TO MY FAMILY AND FIRENDS; WHEN I GO OUT TO THE WORLD TO DO WHAT I LOVE THE MOST: TEACHING. WHEN I AM AT SCHOOL I FEEL THAT NOTHING ELSE MATTERS, I FORGET ABOUT TIME AND I FEEL THAT I JUST... FLOW. THE FEELING IS AMAZING AND I AM SO THANKFUL FOR BEING AWARE OF IT. DREAMS? I´M LIVING THEM RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE ONLY LIVE ONCE, SO DO NOT PUT LIMITS TO YOUR OWN DREAMS AILIN; LIFE IS THIS PRECISE MOMENT WHILE YOU ARE READING AND I AM WRITING. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU A BEAUTIFUL PHRASE THAT HAS GIVEN ME HOPE AND IT SAYS "IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS YOU WILL BE ONE STEP CLOSER TO ACCOMPLISH THEM". I BELIEVE I HAVE NOTHNG ELSE TO ADD!! I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU THAT THE ONLY PERSON WHO PUTS LIMITS TO YOUR DREAMS IS YOURSELF! SO STOP NOW AND THINK ABOUT YOUR DREAMS AND DESIRES AND FEEL FREE TO DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO ACHIEVE THEM!! WISH YOU THE BEST!!! PILAR :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for those inspiring words Pilar! I loved the poem because it is something I deeply believe in but sometimes it's really hard to know if our dreams are just that. I always wonder what if my dreams change and I never accomplish any of them? Or will I be betraying my past self for not following my initial ideas? This are the questions that always plague my mind wheneve people speak of goals and wished in life. And despite my negative approach in the post I truly believe that we can make our dreams come our reality if we want.
DeleteReally nice poem! Your post made me think of what I would love the most doing the rest of my life, and besides travelling and some other things I would love to teach literature. I think I would be so lucky if I manage to teach it, that the though of it makes me have goosebumps! I know what you mean as regards our dreams Ailín,and I agree with you up to a point. Maybe our dreams will always be just dreams, but I can't bear thinking that I could never fullfil any of them. I mean I think it's worth having dreams and HOPE. If not, life would be bitter and thinking that you would never achieve your goals is discouraging and depressing. C'mon! Let's try to be optimistic and do whatever is in our hands to be happy and do what we love!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, after posting this I realised it might sound really negative. It was not my intention at all. I really think we can reach our goals and live our dreams but there are always questions that never leave my mind when I think about my own dreams. I love the fact that you know what you have clear in mind what your dreams are. I feel like I'm still "building" the idea but I also love what I do now. I am living one of my dreams and I hope you are to.
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