Life’s Work
Uncover And Begin Your Own “Magnum Opus”
Photos by Don Pierce
Discovering the magnum opus—the great work of your life—can be a difficult task, but uncovering your mission in life can be exhilarating and life-altering in a positive way.
Ordinary experiences can be relished: you can transport yourself back in time with your memory, replay happy days, celebrate good news, be open to beauty and excellence, be mindful by taking pleasure in your senses, and pinpoint or frame your relishing by savoring with your camera.
Seek all experiences, even the bittersweet ones.
Moving forward with goals helps you to manage your time, enables you to feel confident, and provides the impetus for social connections—all of which leading to happiness.
Discovering the magnum opus—the great work of your life—can be a difficult task, but uncovering your mission in life can be exhilarating and life-altering in a positive way. Those who hold to the Vision of the Heartwood Path and who are taking steps to materialize that mental picture (as previously described) are working on the pivotal task called “The Great Work!” Each eartHeart works on his or her own magnum opus and/or adopts his or her own aspect of the Great Work!––the overarching magnum opus suggested for those who follow the Heartwood Path. Best taken in small steps, the Great Work! is a set of deliberate, conscious, intentional exercises that occur in Self, culture, and Nature. These exercises are practices—disciplined actions, repeated customs, and regular exercises—performed with the intension of perfecting (you could say “awakening,” if you prefer) the Self to preserve one’s environment (however that is defined).
Each practice will be aided if you increase your ability to savor. Ordinary experiences can be relished. You can transport yourself back in time with your memory. You can replay happy days, celebrate good news, and be open to beauty and excellence. You can be mindful by taking pleasure in your senses. Although you can pinpoint or frame your relishing by savoring with your camera, do not hide behind the lens or writing instrument. Become a participant and not just a recorder. Seek all experiences, even the bittersweet ones.
Before engaging in the kind of transformative cross training described in the next section, commit to your goals. They are the aims of your life, fortunes worth finding. They provide a feeling of control as one’s sense of purpose narrows down distractions. Moving forward with goals helps you to manage your time, enables you to feel confident, and provides the impetus for social connections––all of which leads to happiness. Help with proper goal setting follows.
To Merry Aspirations…
HumaNatureConnect Activity
Engaging In Happiness-producing Goal Setting
For this activity, cast out extrinsic goals relating to money, beauty, or fame, especially if they are retarding your happiness. Replace them with intrinsic goals--those that are inherently satisfying, meaningful, growth-producing, and community-enhancing.
