Practising Grace in the Office
It’s a cold, grey November day. In this part of the country it is a perfect day for one of my favourite things: cozy up with a blanket and a good novel. The only thing missing today is a thunder storm and a roaring fire in the fireplace. With clear skies and a comfortable season temperature, I put aside my wont to read and tend to some work I have promised to complete the the end of the week.
For most professional writers, whether freelance, contract, or permanent employee, working from a home office seems to be as much necessity as it is luxury. I try to view it simply as a benefit of my profession, but on days like today—perfect work at home days—remind myself how fortunate I am. Many practising and struggling writers do not have this freedom.
At the office the earlier part of this week had turned miserable—overworked co-workers trying to meet unrealistic deadlines—and to avoid catching the bitch bug, I withdrew to my home office.
I would sit in my cubicle staring at my computer monitorHere, at least, I could be productive because otherwise, I would sit in my cubicle staring at my computer monitor and resenting my employer and colleagues and fuming about the passage of unproductive time. Or, I would spend my time daydreaming about a time when I could spend all day with my creative writing and freelance writing projects, and rail against the reality of having to earn a living at an occupation that keeps me in the role of employee working in an office building. Instead of focussing on the task at hand, on days when the tension in the workplace is palpable, I rue the fact that I can’t seem to earn a living doing the type of writing I enjoy.
When things are not going smoothly in our personal lives, workplaces can become depressing, oppressive, or downright toxic—I’ve spoken to many folks who work under some terrible conditions, and when the collective tension seeps into my mood, before I get pulled into it, I try to take myself out of the office in order to regain perspective.
As I’ve said, I sometimes have the luxury of leaving a stressful environment when things turn ugly, but when I can’t leave, I try to bring grace into the office.
When bringing grace into a job seems an impossibility, challenge yourself to give it a try.
Practise bringing grace into your every day lifeOne of my favourite books by author Caroline Myss is Invisible Acts of Power, Channelling Everyday Grace into Your Life and in it, Myss teaches readers how to behave a way that allows you the opportunity to bring grace into the daily activities of your life.
I tried this recently and discovered that it takes practise, and patience.
In the weeks leading up to a deadline on a particularly rough project our team was responsible for and faced with daily frustrations with the work and with co-workers whose job it was to provide me with information, but turned hostile and evasive during our meetings. They wanted to be left alone to do their work, not spend time telling me about their work. In turn, I carried with me to each successive meeting frustration from our previous encounter. I could almost feel the underlying adversarial and confrontational current. It was affecting my job performance and impacted my personal life. I was becoming miserable outside the office, too.
In reading Myss’ book about channelling grace, I continued to try to bring grace into the office.
You have to mean itI tried to pay attention to the circumstances and rather than invest irritation with a particular situation, such as when colleagues were overscheduled and thorny about meeting, I would be as accommodating and patient as possible without jeopardizing my deadlines and work schedule. Too often, I would reschedule a meeting when day’s workload caused colleagues to become overscheduled in order to avoid their tense moods on a hectic day. That resolved nothing except push me back to my desk aggravated and upset. The trick, I learned, was to not fake mercy, which was, and is, difficult to do.
To show grace—the kind that Caroline Myss describes in her book—I learned that I had to give my colleagues the gift of space and time and mean it. This meant that I could not just pay lip-service to the situation. I had to feel tolerant and be understanding of the situation, which is, as you know, not easy when you’re pressured for time. And I had to do this in a supportive, unpatronizing, way.
What I have also learned is that this approach doesn’t always provide textbook result, and you cannot expect to be consistently authentic, but most often you will walk away from an encounter like this feeling less angry and less resentful.
If you can make this a regular practice in your work life as well as your personal life, you may find that you are able to more easily tolerate events at work that might otherwise bring you to a level of unbearable frustration.
Task: For one week, practise bringing grace into the office to every day tasks and business activities. When you experience situations that have a positive outcome, write about what you did and how you felt afterwards.
For most professional writers, whether freelance, contract, or permanent employee, working from a home office seems to be as much necessity as it is luxury. I try to view it simply as a benefit of my profession, but on days like today—perfect work at home days—remind myself how fortunate I am. Many practising and struggling writers do not have this freedom.
At the office the earlier part of this week had turned miserable—overworked co-workers trying to meet unrealistic deadlines—and to avoid catching the bitch bug, I withdrew to my home office.
I would sit in my cubicle staring at my computer monitorHere, at least, I could be productive because otherwise, I would sit in my cubicle staring at my computer monitor and resenting my employer and colleagues and fuming about the passage of unproductive time. Or, I would spend my time daydreaming about a time when I could spend all day with my creative writing and freelance writing projects, and rail against the reality of having to earn a living at an occupation that keeps me in the role of employee working in an office building. Instead of focussing on the task at hand, on days when the tension in the workplace is palpable, I rue the fact that I can’t seem to earn a living doing the type of writing I enjoy.
When things are not going smoothly in our personal lives, workplaces can become depressing, oppressive, or downright toxic—I’ve spoken to many folks who work under some terrible conditions, and when the collective tension seeps into my mood, before I get pulled into it, I try to take myself out of the office in order to regain perspective.
As I’ve said, I sometimes have the luxury of leaving a stressful environment when things turn ugly, but when I can’t leave, I try to bring grace into the office.
When bringing grace into a job seems an impossibility, challenge yourself to give it a try.
Practise bringing grace into your every day lifeOne of my favourite books by author Caroline Myss is Invisible Acts of Power, Channelling Everyday Grace into Your Life and in it, Myss teaches readers how to behave a way that allows you the opportunity to bring grace into the daily activities of your life.
I tried this recently and discovered that it takes practise, and patience.
In the weeks leading up to a deadline on a particularly rough project our team was responsible for and faced with daily frustrations with the work and with co-workers whose job it was to provide me with information, but turned hostile and evasive during our meetings. They wanted to be left alone to do their work, not spend time telling me about their work. In turn, I carried with me to each successive meeting frustration from our previous encounter. I could almost feel the underlying adversarial and confrontational current. It was affecting my job performance and impacted my personal life. I was becoming miserable outside the office, too.
In reading Myss’ book about channelling grace, I continued to try to bring grace into the office.
You have to mean itI tried to pay attention to the circumstances and rather than invest irritation with a particular situation, such as when colleagues were overscheduled and thorny about meeting, I would be as accommodating and patient as possible without jeopardizing my deadlines and work schedule. Too often, I would reschedule a meeting when day’s workload caused colleagues to become overscheduled in order to avoid their tense moods on a hectic day. That resolved nothing except push me back to my desk aggravated and upset. The trick, I learned, was to not fake mercy, which was, and is, difficult to do.
To show grace—the kind that Caroline Myss describes in her book—I learned that I had to give my colleagues the gift of space and time and mean it. This meant that I could not just pay lip-service to the situation. I had to feel tolerant and be understanding of the situation, which is, as you know, not easy when you’re pressured for time. And I had to do this in a supportive, unpatronizing, way.
What I have also learned is that this approach doesn’t always provide textbook result, and you cannot expect to be consistently authentic, but most often you will walk away from an encounter like this feeling less angry and less resentful.
If you can make this a regular practice in your work life as well as your personal life, you may find that you are able to more easily tolerate events at work that might otherwise bring you to a level of unbearable frustration.
Task: For one week, practise bringing grace into the office to every day tasks and business activities. When you experience situations that have a positive outcome, write about what you did and how you felt afterwards.