Take5 with Mary Delmege - Impractical activities really serve an important purpose in our lives

Mary Delmege

Mediator

Mary Delmege works with courts and community organizations as a Mediator in Southern California. She recently retired as Director for nine US Commercial Service offices in Southern California and Hawaii.

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Mary Delmege, Mediator

Mary Delmege has worked closely with Commercial Service offices throughout the world. Ms. Delmege's organization offered counseling, market research, matchmaking services and coordination of overseas trade shows and missions.

Her background includes a variety of management and advisory positions for the US Commerce Department, including Senior Advisor to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee. In that role she was instrumental in developing the National Export Strategy based on feedback from focus groups, interviews and surveys of small and mid-sized exporters.

Ms. Delmege began her Commercial Service career as a Foreign Service Officer in Mexico City, where she directed market research and outreach activities.

Contact Mary at mfdelmege@cox.net

Impractical activities really serve an important purpose in our lives

One of my favorite quotes is from E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web. He said, “If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I rise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savour) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

Every day as we set out to save our little corner of the world by going to work and taking care of the endless do list that we all carry, we may also decide to put off for one more day the pure joy of spending time on some less practical passion. Most of the time we are so caught up in the immediate necessities of life that our own private passions take a back seat. And we rationalize this by telling ourselves that we’ll get around to those things on the weekend or perhaps when we retire.

Of course, not everyone puts their passions on hold. The beach is full of surfers. Classes in music, art and Italian cooking are full of people carving out some time for their passions. How do they manage? Maybe they are less busy than we are. Or maybe they are less serious about their careers. Maybe those classes and beaches are full of people who are independently wealthy or who have just won the lottery. All of those things are possible, but I have another idea. Maybe those people have decided that these supposedly impractical activities really serve an important purpose in their lives. They have decided to carve out time because these activities give them something they can’t get any other way. They’ve found a way to integrate their passions into their lives because of the fulfillment they find in surfing or playing music or tap dancing.

So if you are one of the people who has put their passion on hold to pursue more serious or more practical concerns, please take a few minutes and make a short list of the two or three things that you feel passionate about but don’t have time for these days. Then write down a couple of words about how those things make you feel: excited, happy, creative, powerful... These are the feelings that you get from pursuing your passions. Ask yourself if you get these feelings from your more serious, important activities. Then make a plan to carve out some time for your passions.

I am not suggesting that you quit your job or abandon your family to take up surfing full time, but if surfing is your passion, schedule a day in the next two weeks to get back into the ocean. You will find that the energy and joy from doing something that gives you such a lift will spill over into the “serious” part of your life. You may find that you are more effective and more creative at work. You will certainly be more fun to be around.

Tags: Mary Delmege Office & Work New Attitudes