How to See Yellow Cars
Last week, my workplace brought in a special speaker for a seminar called, "You've Lost that Loving Feeling," a look at how we sometimes feel about our jobs. I was the first one there.
"The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest"
-Someone who tells the truth
And then it blew my mind. I learned about the five phases of our relationship with our work and how sometimes we can stroll through all five of them by 9:30 in the morning on any given day. I learned about how to avoid drama at work, how to reignite my passion for work, and how to see yellow cars.
Do you know how to do it? You look for them. That's what I learned. "What you look for, you see." Yellow cars probably seem pretty rare to you, right? Kind of like good news or kindness or optimism? All pretty rare. And yet, when our speaker first started looking for yellow cars, he saw 4 on the very first day. Shortly after, he saw more than 20. And now, he can't get away from the things. They seek him out. He is stalked by yellow cars.
My first day at home after the seminar, I felt so grateful for John Thomas, and I couldn't stop thinking about all the other times I have been inspired or nudged toward inspiration or flat out life-changed because of letting into my selfish, little world the insight of another person. I remembered what I have long, long believed but sometimes forget, at least in practice: We are not meant to do this thing alone. Sincere connection to other human beings is when it all makes sense.
If there's any kind of God, it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me, but just this little space in between.
-Celine, Before Sunrise
So, I haven't even told you how I spent about two days after this guy's talk just thinking about it and figuring out how to re-engage. I haven't told you all the lists I made - the grateful lists, the list of things I believe, my personal mission statement. I haven't gone into detail about Step Number Two for rediscovering your passion for your job, no matter what the job:
Be an artist. Every day.
- John Thomas
Spot the yellow car
I haven't told you all that, because there's just TOO MUCH. It was gold, I tell ya. And, as you can imagine, I immediately kept my eye out for yellow cars. Not all the time, but every now and then, when I would think of it. After a few days, I hadn't noticed a single yellow car, and Michael and I went for a drive. Near the end of it, I started telling him about the yellow car thing, "What you look for, you see," and mid-sentence, I kid you not, we met a yellow car. ONE-HALF BLOCK LATER, yellow car parked in a driveway. Just before the next stoplight: yellow car, yellow car.
Is it not so beautiful that not even looking for yellow cars totally clicked for me until I opened up and shared it with another human being? It's beautiful. Each meager human is a tiny powerful part of the brain, full to the brim with the potential for great, great things. But the synapses - those perfect, electric connection points - that is where the magic happens. Insight meets possibility meets aha moment meets "I never saw it that way before." I fully expect to see yellow cars on my own now, but I will never forget, it all started when we looked for them together.