Calling All Destinies
We had the pleasure of talking to actress Melinda Page Hamilton on tonight’s show. She mentioned that she initially wanted to pursue a career in investment banking, but ended up becoming an actress.
So many of us might start in one career and end up doing something we’re more passionate about. We each have a calling, and for some of us, that might include being a banker. However, for many of us, it will be something completely different. So how do we know what our calling is?
In ancient Greek mythology, daemons were supernatural beings who guided us on our life path. A daemon’s calling was something the Gods had given us the chance to do, and that was decided before our birth. Everyone has a daemon assigned to them. The Gods then gave us several skills to make the fulfilment of this destiny possible. Muses remind us in our dreams and reveries that this destiny still awaits us. However, it can only happen with the assertion of our own free will, as life is a co-creation with The Divine.
Greek Gods from an ancient relief
To trace your life historically for clues of a calling, think of the things you naturally did as a child that brought you happiness. When children repetitively play the role of nurse, teacher, counseller, scientist, poet, or painter and can get lost in that for hours, one of these abilities could be their ultimate destiny. A calling is something where you feel like you’re in the right place at the right time, and there’s nowhere else you would want to be. It’s the experience of being completely in the moment, focused on the task at hand, and undistracted by memories of the past or anticipation of the future. Why does a meaningful vocation make us feel so present? Perhaps the ancient Greeks would have said that a calling is beyond time and space because the idea was originated in a timeless dimension beyond our own. That alternate dimension is perhaps akin to the ideal world, the source of truth, and the Form of the Good as expressed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” in his book The Republic.
Also, ask yourself, “If I was independently wealthy and didn’t have to work for a living, what would I be doing with my time?” Your answer is a clue to your calling, or at least to one of them.
Can there be multiple daemons? Yes, there are some of us who will want to follow a calling for a particular period of time, only to find another calling that suits a different era in our life. As long as you are engaged in something that’s purposeful and beneficial to you and others, you’re doing your part to make this world a better place.
