IS YOUR WORK A CALLING OR A JOB? REFLECTIONS AFTER THE LATEST CITY ROCK READING!

Last Wednesday night, at The Players Theater in Greenwich Village, I was privileged to be the recipient of an amazing dose of creativity and love from almost two dozen extraordinary people doing what they love to do. With an amazing director, an implacable crew of one, and 21 gifted actors, the fourth episode of my TV series, CIty Rock, was put up in a staged reading. The spirited, gripping, poignant and hilarious performances filled the black box theater with so much light and energy that I felt like I was glowing afterwards.

With hearts wide open, everyone contributed their services for no financial remuneration, and on top of it all, they thanked me!

Here are two e-mails I received:

"Hey Peter: It was great to be involved. Thank you for sharing your baby with me. It's an amazing script, cast, and crew and I feel honored to be a part of it. I look forward to creating more magic with you in the future!"

"Thanks again Peter! The series you have written is really intriguing and I think if for some strange reason it doesn't get picked up, you got screwed! (and I must say that I am not quick to pass out praise on tv scripts, as so many I have read or watched are, shall we say, predictable.) I also thought I would pass my wife's comments along. (She's an actress by the way, so if you're ever in need... blah blah blah) She commented on how well written it was and also that it was the best staged film or television script she had ever seen. She's wanted to see more. Anyway, enjoy your trip and hopefully we'll be working again soon."

So this morning, I found myself thinking about what the motivation was for these twenty-odd angels. It came into my consciousness clear as a bell - they were all engaged in their "calling."

What are you engaged in that you call "work?" Is it something that you believe that you have to do in order to make money, but you don't really enjoy doing very much? Or is it something that you do because it makes your heart sing, because you are passionate about doing it?

The first kind of engagement, for discussion's sake, let's call a "job." The second type we can identify as a "calling." Most of you know the difference between those two things, unless you've never done anything to make your heart sing, in which case, I doubt that you would be bothering to read anything here on Full Permission Living!

Many believe, however, that making money at a job is a given, while making money at a calling is rare. This is a complex and very common syndrome... and totally based in erroneous beliefs.

The idea that sustenance for one's life comes from suffering or unpleasant laboring is rooted in the character structures we form in early childhood. We are born in a natural state of complete trust, expecting our environment to provide all the nourishment we need, both physically and emotionally. When it doesn't, because of the dysfunctions of our environment, first and foremost our parents, we experience great pain, and so we create defenses to mitigate the pain, complete with belief systems and strategies for getting more of what we need. From there evolves the belief that through "hard work" comes our just rewards.

A reporter once asked John Lennon in 1963 if he thought the fame and fortune would interfere with the Beatles creative song-writing energy. The inimitable Lennon replied: "No, I find that I can write just as well sitting on a soft cushion as on a hard bench!"

Here's a quote from Steven Pressfield in his great little book, "The War of Art":

"The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. But the part we create from can't be touched by anything our parents did, or society did. That part is unsullied, uncorrupted, soundproof, waterproof, and bulletproof."

Indeed, when you are living your calling, you feel invincible, irresistible, in the "Zone," as it were, and expressing yourself creatively is its own reward. You're not needy. Not deprived. You care more about the sharing than the applause. And, if you do not succumb to those erroneous beliefs from childhood about abundance, being in the zone can easily bring you money, as much as you need, as much as your heart desires.

Ahhh... I can hear the sound of Resistance to that last one!

But it's true, folks. Free yourself up from all of your hidden beliefs through some serious self-work and you will be living your truest calling, pot of gold in hand, sitting comfortably on that cushion!

Thank you:

Karen Giordano, Pete Postiglione, Breane Wood, Jimmy Gary, Jr., Willie Teacher, Jason Kravits, James Christie, Carmen Gill, Anthony Perullo, Rich Orlow, Jaymes Hodges, L. Roi Hawkins, Nardia Blake, Lindy Rogers, Gerard Joseph, Steve Kleiner, Dale Thomas Krupla, Christina Giordano, Kamal Jones, Judy Jerome, Chaz Graytok, Steve Stitt, Todd Younggren, Mary Cavataio