John O’Donohue, Anam Cara.
It has been ten years since the premature loss of Irish poet and author John O’Donohue at the age of 52. The Guardian eulogized that his passing “robs the world of a genuinely original religious mind.” Consolingly perhaps, just as speaking transcends space, writing transcends time. So although the absence of this gifted man is a sad fact, his books are a bridge to the beautiful world of his thought.
John O’Donohue studied and did many things in his life, including earning a doctorate in Hegelian philosophy, research on the 14th century German mystic Meister Eckhart, ordination to the Catholic priesthood, and activism for social justice.
Towards the end of his life however he began working with executives as a consultant on leadership and innovation in the workplace. He emphasized that creativity as an act of growth (and as the key to innovation and competitive advantage in business) is correlated to a person’s innate hunger for interior belonging. The underlying line of reasoning is that a person cannot properly possess their work (and thereby have access to their creative potential over the long-haul) without cultivating a dynamic connection to their inner life.
In Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World, O’Dononue writes, “Everyone loves to belong. We want to belong to a group, to a family and particularly to the place in which we work. Here is the point at which an immense creativity could be released in the workplace.” Soberly however he notes, “In nearly every corporation or workplace you will find many disappointed individuals.”
The reason for this unhappy state of affairs is that many people carelessly attach themselves to organizations (which are external power-structures) without establishing a relationship to their own interiority. This results in unrealistic expectations about what can be gained from any job or profession, and the inescapable loss of enthusiasm, imagination, and commitment that naturally follows. To seek therefore a balanced sense of belonging at work, which will allow you to rise above the limitations of any environment and thrive, requires finding your center.
It is important to make clear that O’Donohue is not relativizing other people or organizations and the legitimate claims they make on our lives and our freedom. He is making the case rather that the disappointments which come along within any system are bound to drain you if you have not formed a proper connection, and living rhythm, with your deepest self. This is not God in you, as you. But God in you as the mysterium tremendum. “The recovery of soul means a rediscovery of Otherness.”
When you are in touch with the inner mystery of your own being, the surprising friendship that follows infuses all of life’s activities, including work, with not only direction, but with a vitality and originality that is inexhaustible and unassailable.
“Frequently, people need to belong to an external system because they are afraid to belong to their own lives.“
