What a tragedy to waste our life imitating someone else's work, no matter how great, instead of doing our own, however humble. Life has given each one of us a Gift to share. No one else in the world can give it.
This earth would not be complete without your small but essential Gift. Your duty is not to worry about how "great" it is, but to share it unconditionally. That is the secret of joy.
Let us not define our work as others define work, or measure its value by status or income. Our work may be a global business enterprise, or a gentle smile. It may be the Gift of listening, or the simple act of being present, and letting a troubled heart feel heard. Our work may be our children. Our work may be food for the hungry, or singing to feed souls. The work may be a single poem, a single painting, one well-thrown pot, after a lifetime of practice. We abandon it to the earth, for others to find.
How do we know our Gift, our Dharma, our own unique Heartwork?
Plunging into it 100%, there doesn't seem to be any doer. When most busy, we appear quite calm, but inwardly we are on fire. The task is self-nourishing. It feeds us with energy, like play. As we work, the difference between mind and heart dissolves. Focused on the small, we feel vastly expanded inside. And when we are lost in the humblest detail, angels from the farthest corners of the universe bend over our shoulders, whispering, "Yes!"
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