It's Monday.
Is cold.
Everyone's got so many things to do.
I thought maybe I could read a little poetry to you.
This is a book I've heard about for over a decade.
Thank you to my dear friend,
Sydney Bloom,
And to my dear friend,
Lou Redman,
Who have written it.
Told me about it,
Recommended it to me,
So many people actually have.
But it's one of those books that.
.
.
You got to it when you got to it and you knew it was going to be special.
And I want to read a short passage from it.
This book is unlike any other book I've read.
It's called The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.
It was written over a hundred years ago.
And it's poetic essays.
They're one part poetry,
One part like clear instructions for how to live a life.
They're so penetrating,
So potent,
So concise.
It's like a delicious wine that you don't want to finish.
So I've been reading it really,
Really slow.
Few pages at a time.
And this chapter is all on work.
Okay,
Here it is.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love,
But only with distaste,
It is better that you should leave your work.
And sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference,
You bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of grapes,
Your grudge distills a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels and love not the singing,
You muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
Is love made visible.
Wow,
Wow,
Wow,
Wow.
What a beautiful,
Beautiful passage.
Reminder that the energy we pour into our work matters.
It's not just about getting it done.
It's not just about Crossing things off of our list it's not just about being in places and offices and relationships and meetings and platforms because we feel like we have to.
But an opportunity to stop,
Slow down,
Zoom out.
And remember,
Remember that work is love made visible.
