Live Immediately.
“The whole future lives in uncertainty: live immediately.” Seneca.
A month ago I did something I’ve never done before. I quit my job without anything else lined up. Yeah, maybe not the best idea, but I was in a place where not having a job was better than being at a job that you dread. There is a silver lining to all of this I promise.
My job was unorganized to say the least. The leadership didn’t seem qualified to lead under most standards including my own. It was a “boys club” where it seemed to me the goal was to befriend the person in charge to get ahead. The basic model for corporate America. Granted, the pandemic hit right as I started which in turn, may have lead to making things harder. Enough bashing my old employer. The message is simple, unorganized and under-qualified leadership, plus COVID and you get a mess. A mess I didn’t want to participate in.
I left. To say I had a plan would be a lie because I didn’t, but I did know I was going to be okay. I ended up being unemployed for a week before landing an amazing job at a coffeehouse and roastary. Learning the ins and outs of roasting has been amazing and worth while experience. I’ve never been happy at a job, but so far, this one makes me excited to wake up everyday. That’s worth more than all the wealth in the world. Happiness is the true wealth of life.
During that week, I decided to dig back into some passions I’ve put on the back burner for years. One of which being photography. I’ve been interested in photography since I was a child. My late grandfather was a photographer and owned his own studio at one point. It runs in my blood. In high school, I took a photojournalism class which I fell in love with. However, with life and church influences, I pursued something else and rarely picked up my camera.
I felt this creative spark growing inside and with what seemed to be a massive amount of free time, I picked up my camera and went. That whole week was truly amazing. I found my passion for storytelling through pictures. I’ve been studying the Elder Futhark (Norse runes) for a time and I found a way to mesh the two. The Futhark was the Norse alpahbet. Each character in that alphabet has a special meaning which in turn, were etched on their weapons or tattoed on their bodies for many reasons. It’s near and dear to my heart because my family came from Norway in 1875.
When I was out taking pictures by myself in nature, I felt something special. I felt a true peace of mind. There is something about being in nature in the pursuit of art and passion that gives us peace. I believe we all have a creative spirit that is wanting to grow. It was the best thing for me. I took some pictures and found myself in a way I wouldn’t have been able to if I had stayed where I was.
Thankfully as I mentioned, I found a job at a local coffeehouse and roastary. Noble coffee is nestled in the heart of Ashland, OR and has is an award winning coffeehouse winning the most “Good Food” awards than any other coffeehouse in the country since the birth of the program. I’m proud to be learning from an amazing roaster named Jared Rennie.
To be frank, I never thought I’d end up in coffee again. When I left Starbucks, I didn’t want to go back to have a similar expierence. Starbucks is overall great and they know how to do second wave coffee. I told myself if I were ever going to go back, it would be to learn how to roast. It would be under a company I believed in and if I couldn’t see myself supporting the owners I wouldn’t do it. Thankfully, I found all of those things and more at Noble.
The future is so uncertain in many aspects. Right now, our world is a scarier place than ever before. We need to be unafraid to live a life that makes us happy. We need to learn to live immediately as Senca says. I can’t say whether or not once life ends, there will be something else. That being said, if this is the only life we have to live, make it a good one.
Amor Fati,
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