Engagement

Searching once more for a regular job has led me to times of feeling very down; the whole process is so 'soul destroying'. An interesting expression and one which raises all sorts of questions about the nature of human Being. Irrespective of any search for work, work in the form of a failed drainage pipe found me on Friday. A moderately lengthy job involving a fair bit of re-piping and working between floors and in voids/ducts. On the one hand not too pleasant and yet on the other very rewarding. Nothing like a bit of an emergency to get a sense of purpose and direction. Solving a problem is very rewarding. And this is the intimacy I think we all need; life calling upon our abilities to deliver something of use to the collective. Definitely restorative for the soul. It's all about being in the flow (no pun intended); giving and receiving, stuff going on. Buddhism does not include a notion of a soul let alone harbor the idea of anything in this life having a destructive influence on such, yet cause and effect; karma is spoken of. This contrast between the experience of looking for a job and finding meaningful engagement with life in work makes plain the nature of what seems to be key here; engagement with the collective. This engagement is very apparent to me as I read One Month On from Field of Merit  a work in progress by Rev Alicia and RM Mugo. I am sure their project will come to fruition.

Today walking on the Beach after being in the sea I took the following photo:

...and on the way to take it I took this one:

If only in the midst of depression I would recall and believe that this too will pass and times like those giving rise to the pictures above will also come (and not just go).