Many people live half-lives, turning the rheostat down to a very dim version of what and what they really are.*
Jean Houston

The stakes in good work are necessarily high. Our competence maybe at stake in ordinary, unthinking work, but in good words that is a heartfelt expression of ourselves, we necessarily put our identities to hazard.
David Whyte

We want magic,
But when we discover that magic is
really about turning up,
Staying longer,
Paying attention,
Failing,
Learning,
Trying again –
With no guarantees –
Then we may be tempted to search out
a more convenient path,
BUT:
Inconvenient!
That’s great news …
because it means that most other people
can’t be bothered.
It’s valuable because the very inconvenience of it
makes it scarce.
The stuff that matters is almost always inconvenient.
If it’s not, you might be mistaken about what matters.^

The thing you really want to do
is likely to be inconvenient,
But that’s why we love it;
We see how it matters to you so much that
nothing will stop you.

And because it’s scarce,
It matters to us.

*Jean Houston’s A Mythic Life;
**David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea;
^Seth Godin’s blog: Inconvenient!