A Day at Work

中台禪寺佛像

埔里酒廠

日月潭九族文化村

           Working in another branch usually would make me anxious and worried for it’s out of my comfort zone and the combination of different clienteles and environment amplified the degree of negative feelings. Not today. Maybe I was concerned at the beginning when I failed to locate plenty of items on the RTF list. Mustering my courage, I went to the manager and asked if it’s a norm not to fill the requests for, be honest, I shyly explained and told him I consider myself a good hunter and rarely did I fail to locate and find my targets. He said not to worry about the requested items for they might be placed somewhere at the back on some squeaky trucks. Courtesy to the patrons who would like to have a quiet place at their staying we could have them done later when we were not that busy as day went by. Understood the situation, I set off and enjoyed the activity I like the most at work: treasure hunting.

            It turned out that it’s a busy day according to the floor manager/department leader. During those five hours, people came and went, some stayed longer and some sat enjoying the music playing by the library’s wonderful machines; it’s my first time to see those players at work. The sight of their tops reminds me of a salon with perm services. It made me smile as I remember the few time I was with my mother at an old fashioned salon at my childhood. It’s a beautiful picture; I felt I almost could smell that specific olfactory-challenging odor of things applied on a customer’s hair as she was quietly sitting in a chair with her hair and head covered by a funny looking transparent “hat.”

Then an episode reminds me the second question and the answers in one of the books I read recently; the question is: Where are you and why are you there?

            It’s my like and routine to walk a library where I work during operation hours. Today, though it’s not my own branch, I did the same building walk. As I passed this table, the person started to mumble then speak a bit louder complaining that he was trying to read. At first, I didn’t understand what this person said. So I halted, stopped, and looked at the direction of the voice. Heard and understood what just happened, I mumbled my apology, then turned and went on my walk. Later, the manager told me it’s fine; nothing wrong. “I understand.” When I said I understood I really meant what I said. It’s life.

            The more similar situations I ran into the more I accepted and understood what life is about; it’s a journey of souls, souls of others and soul of mine. Our soul is unseen yet we all know each and every one of us owns one. Our soul is weightless yet we know how heavy it could be as one is facing obstacles and/or forks of directions and one doesn’t know which path to choose. Our soul is colorless yet we would recognize the color’s hue and shade of a person’s: it would be dark when we “feel” negative forces and the color would be bright when a positive energy is present and detected. Our soul stores who we are, what we are, and memories of many lives from various times and places the soul has lived. Today, as I briefly stood there listening to the person’s protest I didn’t feel any negative energy. All I saw and felt was another soul, a decent human being, a fellow of my kind: we are the same breathing, walking creatures given this body to roam this land called Earth.

            This understanding came as I walked the second round of the building and this time I detoured and tried not to invade the person’s territory. But I took time to watch the back of the table and smiled: this is where I am, a place called public library, and it’s my playground. I like to serve the purpose of public library.

            Another encounter with a patron had the similar impact on me; I spent quite some time on this young man whom I have helped work on some school project. The function he asked for was new to me for I never used it before. Together we found it and had it worked on his due paper. As he was leaving and said ‘thank you’ to me I said something that kept him talking to me. My curiosity was piqued by his chosen major. From that major we talked about his future career and life itself. In between and at the end of the conversation I requested some books we talked about for him to read in the future. From his expression and his response to what we have exchanged today I almost could see an eager, aspiring, and hard working missionary, a missionary of faith and life.

            The things we have talked about are the meaning of a successful profession and purpose of life. Two elements, during our conversation, I repeated the two elements for a successful career. They are: To create values for other people and to touch people’s lives. If these two elements are exercised as one serves at work then the sound of happiness is singing and it comes to you as naturally as if you are breathing in another stroke of flowing fresh air. Happiness comes and follows you as you have done a good deed. You sleep well at nights; you walk with a straight spine, and you feel good about yourself, being yourself. The reward is valuable and priceless.

            Working at a public sector provides me valuable opportunity to discover who I am, what I am, and why I am there. To me, life is not a difficult mystery though still an interesting mystery deserved to seek solutions and answers. I came to understand that if I go on questioning, reading, and serving the public, one day I might be able to swallow my last breath without doubt and question. One day…