Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Rating:
Summary: "To thine own self be true . . .
Review: . . . And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

I used to frown upon Polonius's words in Hamlet. They seemed muddled in the same kind of serve-yourself mentality that pervades much of pop psychology and much of our business culture. Polonius, after all, was usually a man big on words and short on wisdom.

With time, I came to understand those words more deeply. He's really saying, "Don't let others decide who you're going to be or how you're going to act or react." When you act from a clear sense of who you are--who God has created you to be--then your actions have integrity with your being. And you will be false--in the sense of being phony--to no one.

Using colorful metaphors, Parker Palmer takes this basic theme and fleshes it out with his own life. He focuses this wisdom on the choice of vocation in life, suggesting we put aside what we feel we "ought" to be and choose a vocation that expresses who we truly are.

Sometimes he's a little too fuzzy for me on the matter of truth, following the popular line of thinking in our American culture that we each have our own truth. If you're the kind of person who ascribes to that way of thinking, then you'll probably love every aspect of Palmer's book. For myself, I can only go so far with that. If by "your own truth" he means simply "the truth about yourself," then I whole-heartedly agree: we do each have unique truths about ourselves; and, if we know those truths, we can avoid some of the pitfalls in life. If he means, as so many do, that there's no objective or absolute truth, only what "works for you" and what "works for me," I find that kind of thinking popular but shallow, no matter how nicely you dress it up with words.

Still, in terms of vocation, I think he's right. The code I'm trying to accept for myself when it comes to vocation is "pursue your passion." That, in essence, is what Palmer describes. I could be misunderstood on that, just as I may be misunderstanding what Palmer's saying about truth. Some might think I mean "Do whatever feels good. Follow your lusts." What I really mean is that God's calling rarely comes from words one hears. God has created his calling within the very fiber of your being. If you pursue a career or path in life that follows those things you most deeply care about and desire to be and do, then I think you are being the person God has created. That, according to Palmer, is our true calling--to be the person God has created us to be and not the person everyone else thinks we should be--not even the one we think we "should" be--but the person we deeply want to be. If we believe our souls are uniquely created in the image of God, then we can acknowledge that God's pattern for our lives lies within ourselves. (Or--if you're an atheist--you can, at least, think of it as being true to the core of your being.)

That doesn't mean we can dispense with general guidelines for living, such as a moral framework for social interaction, but the particulars for deciding how we can meaningfully, joyfully, and helpfully engage with our world are imprinted within. Palmer points out that being president is not for him, but it may be just right for someone else. In that sense we have our own particular truth, and we must be guided from self-understanding if we're going to serve others in the most joyful way we can.

Rating:
Summary: A poetic and spiritual guide to vocational choice.
Review:

This book, only about a hundred pages long, deals with career choice -- Parker calls it vocation.

Most young people make the mistake of choosing their career by figuring out what's available "Out there". Instead they should look inside to figure out who they are what they enjoy doing, and let their career grow out of their own personality. At the College of Art and Design (where I worked for ten years), the rule of thumb for an artists career was: "Do what you like doing, and eventually someone will pay you for it." It actually worked for a lot of people there (but it didn't work for Van Gogh).

On page 52 Palmer wrote:

"My gift as a teacher is the ability to "dance" with my students, to teach and learn with them through dialogue and interaction. When my students are willing to dance with me, the result can be a thing of beauty...Perhaps I can develop enough self-understanding to keep inviting the wallflowers onto the floor, holding open the possibility that some of them might hear the music, accept the invitation, and join me in the dance of teaching and learning."

Parker is somewhat of a poet, and has the little book sprinkled with some interesting short poems. (I love poems, especially when they are short.) If you are thinking about your own career, the book is interesting, and worth the read. It's a little heavy on the spiritual and poetic side for me, but it has some really good ideas, and the central idea is important: Who are you?

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent and elegant - truths distilled from being real
Review: Appreciators of Parker Palmer should know that this is, in this reader's opinion, the best he has ever written. It is the best because Palmer shares himself enough to let us know that he is human and vulnerable, but his central focus is on discovering who God has in mind for us to be and become.

This is for those struggling to make early decisions about vocation but also for those who, midway or later in life, are needing assistance on the path to being as well as doing.Powerful in its economy of words.

Rating:
Summary: For all those who live with a nagging doubt...
Review: For me, this book is less about vocation than it is about loving yourself. In my life (and to the world, a wonderful one) was empty and void. Having come from a verbally abusive childhood, I struggled all my life to "become". But it was never me. Recently, I hit bottom, as Parker did. And I discovered what he writes so eloquently about...you must love yourself first before you can see and cherish and give your gifts to others. For me, it was the end of a 19 year marriage. A change in what I would tolerate at work. And the people around me, most blessedly my children, notice a huge difference. I am me now, not driven by fears or other's boxes. I was pretty charismatic before, but you should see my light shine now. This book helps explain the journey I thought was just me. Parker Palmer has captured probably the most important concept in life...and one that you really should read. This is one of those books that you'll share with others, but you'll want them to get their own copy!

Rating:
Summary: Uplifting, thought-provoking--and not a "how-to" book!
Review: Having read this book during my morning and evening train commutes, I found it to be incredibly inspiring and challenging at the same time. At first I was hesitant to read this book because I have become tired of all the "how-to" books on finding one's vocation and calling in life. I have found that someone else's 5-step plan to finding the right job hasn't always worked for me.

However, I like this book because it's very personal, yet without being preachy. Through reading Parker Palmer's own journey toward self-fulfillment, I have become inspired to examine my own path toward vocation. I think that finding one's calling in life is a very personal process, and following someone else's step-by-step plan can actually cause more harm than good.

In fact, I found myself reading as if I were conversing with a personal mentor. As a result I've become challenged to examine my own life in a way that a "how-to" book could never have provoked me to do. I plan to give this book as a holiday gift to a close friend who is facing a "midlife crisis." I think it will help him.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed...
Review: I am a very introspective person. I believe in the power of the inner person to shine light. I am presently searching for my true vocation. So, this book should be manna, right? It is good. I benefitted, and I can recommend it. But it is too flawed for me to give the highest marks.

The flaw is understandable: Palmer believes just a little too highly in the goodness of the human spirit/conscience. He gives it an ultimate authority. Palmer probably only has friends who are really good people, whose conscience is a worthy guiding light. But there are a lot of people in our society whose conscience is not good. For those people, direction must first come from submission to an external voice, call it principle or natural law or God or whatever you want. Only when their conscience has changed can it serve as the 'Voice of Vocation'.

If this flaw is recognized, Palmer's book is quite valuable. It provides insight in taking that introspective journey in search of vocation. For more on the importance of self-evident principles, read Covey's _Seven Habits of Highly Effective People_.

Palmer's _To Know As We Are Known_ is one of the 5 most influential books in my life. I recently completed a 5th reading of it. I highly recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend _Let Your Life Speak_ as highly.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting if Not Useful
Review: I found this book to be an interesting read into one man's journey toward self-discovery. He has some good insights into how one might take a different view of the world and find one's true vocation.

From my perspective, it was a bit too self-absorbed and self-engrandizing. I would recommend this book to anyone that is depressed about his or her life and needs to find a potential source of comfort. If you have a fairly good sense of self, this book may not be of great benefit.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting if Not Useful
Review: I found this book to be an interesting read into one man's journey toward self-discovery. He has some good insights into how one might take a different view of the world and find one's true vocation.

From my perspective, it was a bit too self-absorbed and self-engrandizing. I would recommend this book to anyone that is depressed about his or her life and needs to find a potential source of comfort. If you have a fairly good sense of self, this book may not be of great benefit.

Rating:
Summary: Quaker insights to life's paths and struggles
Review: I was moved by Palmer's openess on avoiding and eventually confronting depression, fear of failure, and the what of what really matters. This small books holds many succinct insights and examples.There's a Buddhist quality too to his found appreciation for waiting, listening, experiencing the moment.
A compliment to this text is Tara Bennett Goleman's Emotional Alchemy.

Rating:
Summary: Enthusiastic recommendation
Review: I wish I had written this book. Since I didn't, I'm thrilled that Parker J. Palmer did. It encompasses every instruction I have ever given a member of our Order on the pathway to meet, embrace, and resolve the mystery of True Will; and in his patient, considered authorship, he does it vastly better than I ever have.

This is a personal, human, moving, insightful, practical work on the discovery of True Will, and living life in conformity with it. While it enumerates principles, most of the book is autobiographical - the author notes that while everyone's journey is unique, instructive insights are commonly found in, rather than veiled by, the details of someone else's trip. Palmer is a Quaker, and a noted education writer. He is also an Adept as sure as any A.'.A.'. 5=6 (though he would likely never own the title), who understands, from experience, what we call the Holy Guardian Angel, even though he calls it something else.

A feeling for this book can, perhaps, be gotten from a series of brief quotations: "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent." "True self, when violated, will always resist us, sometimes at great cost, holding our lives in check until we honor its truth." "...self-care is never a selfish act - it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others." "The attempt to live by the reality of our own nature, which means our limits as well as our potentials, is a profoundly moral regimen." "One dwells with God by being faithful to one's nature. One crosses God by trying to be something one is not. Reality - including one's own - is divine, to be not defied but honored."

He writes of finding "the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need." Where Liber Legis tells us that, "There is division hither homeward," Palmer speaks to the process of finding "the courage to live divided [against ourselves] no more."

One chapter explores how limitation and ordeal conspire to discover us to ourselves. He understands projections and how to approach them. He also understands that "the way to God is down" - down into the depths of ourselves - and is found only in embracing all aspects of what is found, without judgment. He ex-plores the mystery of depression and - though speaking of a level way, way below "the Dark Night of the Soul" - insightfully addresses its understanding and resolution by means indistinguishable from those that apply to the sojourning of that most profound abyss. His moral thrust is reflected in a quote from John Middleton Murry: "For a good man to realize that it is better to be whole than to be good is to enter on a strait and narrow path compared to which his previous rectitude was flowery license."

My worst criticism of this hardbound little book is that it could benefit from a better binding, but that is the only weakness in its manufacture. Its contents can transform a life. I give it the highest of recommendations.