Someone called me a vacuum cleaner this week. I'll take it.
Finding a life well lived despite the weirdness.
This week someone on their news blog called me a human vacuum cleaner because I report on meetings rather exhaustively.
And some very lovely humans sent me messages, outraged on my behalf.
“That’s nasty,” they said.
“How horrible!”
And then they loaded me down with compliments.
So, instead of feeling outraged, I felt pretty loved.
I have been called much worse than a human vacuum cleaner before. Just earlier this year I was called milquetoast. That was a much worse feeling because it meant that my desire to be as unbiased as possible was being twisted to not caring. That one hurt because I care very much. And I take stands, just not always in ways people want me to. Those stands tend not to be in the pages of our paper or on social media posts, but through acts of time and work and volunteerism.
Anyway, I think the writer meant vacuum cleaner in a nice way—like I’m very thorough and suck up all the information rather than sucking all the air out of a room or all the food up off the buffet table or something like that.
This all stems from my hyper-local news site that I started with Shaun (my husband) because we wanted to make sure that everyone who wants access to the local news has access to local news without a paywall. It comes to hours and hours of work every week covering local meetings, interviewing people, writing it, putting it up. The only money we take in is when people voluntarily give us some. So, why do it?
Two reasons:
I want people in my town to be informed by facts not hearsay or rumor.
I think the best communities are the ones where people support each other. I want to support everyone in my community, including those who can’t pay for the news because they are too busy trying to pay for heat or food or electricity or their property tax bill.
Will we be able to do this forever? Damn, I hope so.
So how can all this help you?
In every profession, little things, little acts, work with purpose, can create output, article by article, word by word, hammered board into a house after hammered board, child taught after child, dispatched fire call after dispatched fire call, chalk message after chalk message. We don’t always get to see the results, but we get to see our work, our process, our effort.
Little acts add up to make big change even when we can’t see it. This is true about communities and our hearts and our confidence.
Not so long ago, that “vacuum cleaner” or “milquetoast” comment would have stopped me in my tracks. But belief in my purpose (to get news out) and in my intent (that I perceive as a good one), insulates me just as much as my beautiful friends do.
The Daily Stoic mentioned a Zeno quote today. “Well-being is realized by small steps but is truly no small thing.”
Those small steps of purpose lead to well-being. I hope you find those small steps, too.
There’s a post over on Positive Psychology about ikigai and there’s even a free exercise pack about finding it. What is ikigai?
One of the explanations the site gives is “Japanese psychologist Michiko Kumano (2017) has said that ikigai is a state of wellbeing that arises from devotion to activities one enjoys, which also brings a sense of fulfillment.”
You should check it out if you have a minute this weekend. I hope you have a well lived weekend.
Xo
The Milquetoast Vacuum Cleaner
When I was a little one and my mom was making milk-toast for me I knew I was soon to get her home made eggnog - no rum- and that I could get out of my sick bed and join the family for meals. Milk -toast spelled Milquetoast will always mean caring and healing, not weakness.