Walking the Path

Well I know it’s been a long time since I posted. Work has been taking up a lot of my time – I’m working on the cover story for the April issue and that’s going to involve a trip from Anhui. I leave tomorrow and return Wednesday.

The one thing I have been doing with my free time is reading a lot. I’m currently in the middle of James Fallows’ Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square but at the same time I’m also working on John Pomfret’s Chinese Lessons and I’ve just bought a few more books today.

Why I don’t know. They just seem to fill me with a lot of hope.  And I know that sounds silly but they’re helping me to chill out during a very busy time right now.

J.

Last night I attended a CanCham event for the charity Free the Children. It was a talk by the group’s founder Craig Keilburger and to sum it up in one sentence it was simply inspiring.

Keiburger spoke about how he came to found the organization and how he came to develop his philosophy of reaching out to others that he entitled ”Me to We” and how that philosophy can be used in corporate CSR. But you could tell that the audience wasn’t thinking about CSR after Keilburger’s speech but more about how they could cause change themselves. Keilburger is like a short, white Barack Obama.  One lady was even crying after the speech and you could see that everyone else was really inspired.

For me, it was a good boost to my feelings that I should keep pursuing my personal goals. I find myself falling and rising emotionally minute-to-minute based on responses I get from prospective employers as well as just general fear about my unknown future after next Monday. Last night’s event was like a flat plateau that I could take a rest on for awhile and let myself know that I am still going on the right path. I’m making the right career choice for me and I should continue with it.

Me to We: the Book

I’ve also been reading Keilburger’s book Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World. And it’s helping me to maintain that calming plateau feeling.  I know it sounds corny, but I probably can do better on job interviews and go farther if I stay calm. If I let emotion take over then there is less chance for me to demonstrate what I am the best at and why I should be hired for a certain job.  So I’m going to do whatever I can to stay calm. Getting angry or letting depression take hold of me won’t do me any good at all. So I’m going to keep reading the book for however long it helps me.

But besides the calming and inspiring factors, Me to We is really well written and it’s just fun to read. When I finish next week, I’m going to try to relax at home and this is one of the books I am going to be spending a lot of time with.

Give the Me to We philosophy a try yourself.

J.