a fierce and steady devotion

One of my best friends turns forty today. To cling to the planet for forty spins around the sun is no small feat. Even more so to do as he has, with a fierce and steady devotion to his vocation.

Thinking of him this morning I thought of, what I consider to be, the most important essay pertaining to the pursuit of wild wisdom: Annie Dillard’s “Living Like a Weasel”.

For those who haven’t read the essay it feels important to clarify: My friend is not a weasel in the derogatory sense. He is like a weasel in the way that Dillard paints the picture of a creature that lives according to a simple and exacting wildness.

Dillard writes: “The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse.”

It’s ideal and just when livelihood corresponds with vocation. It’s good to seek compensation that accords with your efforts. But in order to free your imprint on the world it’s also important to not conflate the two.

Alongside of your duties when possible, and in spite of them where necessary, I hope you find the space to gift the world according to the stuff that gives your life its meaning. I hope you find the strength today and every day to be tenacious, willful, and wild about the necessity of your vocation.