Becoming Who You Are

In Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak, Palmer dissuades his audience from their original notions about vocations and success. Instead of journeying along in life wondering when one is going to get to their ultimate goal and finally become comfortable in being themselves, Palmer discusses that we should strive to work on what we already are. Instead of always looking to the future to see what one will become, one should work every day to better themselves and his/her character. Instead of thinking that vocation is some mysterious call from God to do some great work, we must think of it as a privilege to let ourselves be the best we can be. Our talents must be shared with the world, or else God would not have given them to us. Also, success cannot be determined by something that is tangible – money, cars, clothes, even a position in work. Success is defined differently by each individual person. Palmer’s words offered me a completely foreign and different perspective on vocations and success than I have ever heard before. Coming into my second semester of my senior year, it seems to be every conversation leads back to my college decision and the major in which I will try to pursue. Palmer’s words “our vocation is when our greatest talent meets the world’s greatest need” really spoke to me. It made me contemplate on my major choice of communications a lot. Although I haven’t made any concrete decisions yet, maybe I have time to explore different options that would affect the world in other ways that I may not have intended to affect it before.