I labored this Labor Day on my business plan; this work was fueled by fashion and feeds my soul.

But is it normal?

For insights I turned to the latest edition of a 20-year old career book, Zen and the Art of Making a Living by Laurence G. Boldt.

What did I learn?

Who needs normal when you can have you? Are you ready to create a life “where what you do matches who you are at the deepest levels”? 

I also discovered stuff that I know that I don’t want to hear: no one said it would be easy. And the stuff that motivates me: if you stay on course, you will achieve the elusive balance, wholeness and meaning that you seek in life.

I walked away confidant that the soul needs feeding too. That which we cannot see matters and guess what, if it cannot be counted it might count more than we ever imagined! At my deepest levels. I know that but then I get all “schizoid” when I find myself being the good business woman working on a detailed financial plan (as if anything ever goes as planned). I try to count the intangibles. I strive to be rational in an irrational world. I strive too much when I might fare better if I would let go.

So what did I commit to?

Embracing the mystery – it’s time to simply accept the mystery that is unfolding while still giving the “devil is in the details” its due.

Appreciating the paradoxes – here’s one that I just realized: I seek to become a business owner as a way to move from focusing on myself as an individual to embracing myself as part of a community.

Reminding myself of simple truths – it is time to live life to the maxim and guided by this maxim:

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

– T.S. Eliot