The World Needs You!

Here is what Smoggie wrote to me on the 5th day of my move from Canada to the States as a newly married woman:

You are far too much of a resource to society to be doing that stuff. Get out to a job you love and contribute to the world in a meaningful way. You're fantastically talented, and the world needs you. He might appreciate your help at home, but he of all people no doubt understands your value.

The email was sent to me on July 18, 2000. "that stuff" Smoggie is referring to was all the stuff I was doing in my new home for my new husband - organizing bank statements and bills, cleaning up the place and taking care of other domestic duties. Obviously the "He" Smoggie is referring to was my then new husband and now known as Craigley.

If anything stayed with me from my best friend's earnest message to me from all those years ago, it is his belief that the world needed me!

Since Smoggie cares so much about me, there is a bit of hyperbole in his message to me. I am sure The World never really needed me. So what is "the world" from a more humble perspective?! I believe, for me, it has been my boys. My world quite literally revolves around the boys and most everything associated with them - their friends, their schools and their interests. And I have been aware for a few years now that the world as I have defined it would one day not need me anymore or maybe not as much as it has needed me before!

So, I have to find new worlds that need me. And so do my boys…

Right now, ASid is applying for summer jobs. I guess what I want to share with him is that all of us need to find the worlds that need us. But we must also find some joy in that need. Hopefully, ASid can find a job that gives him more than a monetary benefit!

The best way to end this is to quote Smoggie again, "Get out to a job you love and contribute to the world in a meaningful way."

 

Noteworthy Remarks: (It is more like a "Noteworthy Rant"!)

I have always believed that I must do what I want to do without any expectation from others or without any reward at the end of it all. So, getting an award for Community Service is literally killing me. It is almost like a payment of sorts. I wanted to keep it quiet, but announcements are being made. No one is actually listening to me! I do not want the fundamental message to be that there are rewards like public recognition associated with volunteering. Volunteering in itself should be a rewarding experience.

Here is a direct quotation from Wikipedia: Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity where an individual or group provides services for no financial or social gain "to benefit another person, group or organization".

I feel like a fraud now!