Last week, I attended the City Club of Portland meeting for new members and people interested in becoming a member. I’d never heard of a city club before, but a friend turned me on to it and told me it could be a great way to serve the community as well as network with other people. So, I thought why not check out a meeting and see what I could learn. I was amazed to discover an organization that had its hands in a variety of policy decisions and focused on representing the interests of the people in the city. The 100 year history of the organization is impressive in and of itself in terms of the research they’ve done and how they’ve brought light to a number of issues that effect people in Portland. And, my point in sharing all of this is that I came away from that meeting with a realization that I wanted to join this organization and take part in its work because what they are doing moved me on an intrinsic level.
To serve any community, Pagan or otherwise, necessarily involves discovering what drives you to do the work involved. The phrase, “magician, know thyself!” is an apt reminder that a person needs to know themselves and know why they do what they do before they do it. The book Drive, by Daniel Pink, explores the importance of being in touch with your intrinsic motivation, and in my experience this is not something which can be said enough. Far too often people are easily pointed toward the latest distraction or external reward and consequently ignore the inner calling that can drive them far beyond what any extrinsic reward can offer.
In my own work as the managing non-fiction editor for Immanion Press, I’ve sometimes been asked why I do what I do for the it, especially because I don’t get a paycheck for the hours of editing, layout, and marketing training I do. My answer to that question is that I do what I do because the work for Immanion is a labor of love, an offering of sorts, but also a realization of a calling I feel to publish the books we publish. My reward isn’t realized in monetary returns but rather in opening a box and seeing a new book or hearing from an author when they share their excitement about getting their book in print.
Understanding what drives you helps you stay in touch with your inner genius and allows you to cultivate the inner flame of your creativity. But, to truly feed that part of yourself also involves dedicating yourself to the causes that express your motivation and consequently feed it. For me, going to the city club last week was eye opening because I found yet another way to feed my inner muse and, at the same time, express it through the service I might engage in, the people I might work alongside of, and the knowledge that I could take part in contributing to this place I love, this community that holds a special place in my heart, much as the other communities I’m a part of hold a place in my heart.
To know yourself is to also know your communities and your place in those communities. But, it is also to claim your place and do what you can to enrich and help each community you are part of thrive. Knowing yourself is not an invitation toward self-interest but rather an invitation to do the internal work that allows you to recognize the connection you have to other people and to the world itself. In my opinion, a person engaged in spiritual work begins to truly know that work when they can apply it outside themselves to the world and do so not just for their own ends, but to actually make a difference for the sake of doing the right thing.
What is your intrinsic motivation? How does that motivation express itself in your communities? What are you doing to transform your spiritual work into not only a journey of transformation for yourself, but a journey of transformation for the communities you are part of?
Socially Responsible Magic is published on alternate Wednesdays. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In