Make it Your Own

I just read my Tuesday "Painter's Keys" letter and Robert had the Five Principles of Success for Starbucks.

1 Make it your own
2 Everything matters
3 Surprise and delight
4 Embrace resistance
5 Leave your mark

Robert felt that each of us--artists--do these five things each time we enter our work space to work. I think we do each of these things whenever. I know that these five principles are in place each day when I work at the library.

I mention my "library" often. It's really a pretty incredible spot. We live in a small town of 20,000 and our library does 350,000 transactions in a year. We rank third in the state of Maine. Our patrons love to read. They reserve tons (literally) of books. Families stop in for library visits weekly and I have stamped little hands from baby to junior high in the 8 years I have worked there. We have seasonal hand stamps for the children. This month we have Hello Kitty, a pumpkin, a scary bat and a dinosaur.

I have also chatted with senior citizens--perhaps one of the few conversations they had each week--remembered their names, saved books for them, asked about their gardens or family. I have also mourned their passing. We all do.

And that's what I love the most about my job. Each employee makes the job "their own". We smile, remember names, talk about quilts (me!), recommend books, laugh and enjoy life. For each of us, our library is the best place to be--the best job to have. Yeah, we have crappy days but we get over it. Tomorrow is always going to be better. And it usually is!

This week I am working at the library alot. I'm laughing alot. I just wish I could drag my sewing machine to the library and sew while chatting with the patrons. Now that would "make it my own". Maybe that would be a "good thing".