Rosa Say has given me just the nudge that I need to do something that’s been floating on my to-do list for a while. This is Talking Story’s 2nd Annual Love Affair with Books where folks in her Ho’ohana Community have been encouraged to submit a book review. Well, I’ve been meaning to write a little about a powerful book that was actually sent to me by a publisher’s rep who actually has a pretty neat blog herself (visit Kim and her blog, Skip On!).

In the fall of last year, I received To Be of Use: The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work, by Dave Smith. The title certainly was compelling and intimately related to my own philosophy toward work. The book is not only an autobiography of a man dedicated to making this world a better place, but a field guide for all of us to use to connect our work to something greater than ourselves. Dave Smith was the original founder of Smith & Hawken, a company dedicated to organic gardening (sadly, Smith & Hawken was bought up by Scott Seed and changed into the kind of empty Pottery Barn-like store that Dave fought against).

It has seven chapters with each one focused on a particular value or seed. And the chapters flow easily from one to the next: faith, hope, justice, temperance, prudence, courage, and love. In each, he offers his own personal experiences as a testament to what an individual can do with their life. He writes of how he left his high-paying job as a computer programmer to work for Cesar Chavez and five dollars a week. He speaks candidly about his spiritual wandering from a fundamentalist Christian upbringing toward Quakerism.

What I found most refreshing is his take on business and entrepreneurism. His story is an inspiring account of how business can be a force for good in the world and that a successful business can be measured by such ideals as responsibility, compassion, and service to the common good. At a time in our history when many companies are better known for their greed and maliciously competitive actions, we need more men and women to follow the path of Dave Smith.

A final quote, which I believe sums up the main theme of To Be of Use:

Meaning comes most naturally when we find and fulfill our purpose. This implies that there is an overall higher purpose, one beyond simply surviving and satisfying our own selves on what someone once called our separate little islands of commodities. We find our purpose in responsibility and service to others, living our values – making things better, fairer, happier for others.

I tend to have some interesting phobias, but they’re probably not uncommon to those experienced by other folks. For most of my life, I’ve been afraid of spiders. Here’s where it gets interesting…not all spiders. For instance, I really like tarantulas. I guess its because they’re kind of like giant fuzzy caterpillars (you know, the brown and black kind that you commonly find crawling up trees and along porch rails) only with eight big legs. And I love Spider-Man. On the other hand, I can’t stand the ones with long spindly legs like black widows and argiopes. I find them fascinating, but the thought of having one touch me sends a cold shiver running through my body.

Another phobia that I seem to have is linked to small, tight spaces. I remember my one time doing some cave exploration in high school, I found myself in a confined area trying to squeeze through and all I could think was “what if I get through, but can’t get back out?” Well, that was my last spelunking adventure.

[An aside...as I get older, I realize that many of my fears are irrational and the quickest (but definitely not easiest) way to overcome them is to confront them head on. Perhaps there's more there for me to consider. Okay, back to the original point]

This weekend is a holiday for the U.S. Federal Goverment which means my organization offers a three day weekend. And my wife decided to take the girls to visit her parents in Southern Virginia. This left me alone in my home for the first time in quite a while, and it has been a wonderful time. It’s not so much the quiet as it is the isolation that has been rewarding. The past two days have allowed me the chance to review all that has been going on in my life the past few months, to realize that the critical problems I’ve been facing at work are not insurmountable, to reorient myself back toward my north star – the very philosophy that defines how I choose to bring myself to my work and my life.

I realize now that I had been suffering a type of psychic claustrophobia where problems at work and home had closed in on me leaving me constricted and struggling for breath. I desperately sought an exit. Little did I know how simple the solution could be. For me, it was some temporary freedom from many of my other roles: father, husband, manager.

This is what works for me. If you’re finding that nothing seems to be fitting into place like it once did, perhaps its time for a retreat of your own. We each have a different breaking point and a different idea for retreat. And it won’t permanently solve the problem. In retreat, there’s work that must still be done. It might not be isolation that’s needed, but time with a good friend. Whatever it is, be good to yourself and find what your mind, body, and soul need.