July/August 2004 Living Now
The Awakened Vocation Network:
Fulfilling Our Vocational Destinies

Among the newest of the Portland-Vancouver area’s "new paradigm" groups is the Awakened Vocation Network, whose aim is to support its associates in fulfilling their innermost vocational callings. AVN’s facilitator, is Noel McInnis, a gentle man of extraordinary breadth of vision and experience. "Our network’s function is to serve one another in mutual support of the fulfillment of our vocations of destiny, and to do so in ways that result in greater financial autonomy and personal self-dominion. Our aim is to empower individuals to mindfully discern, heartily embrace, and more fully realize the vocational destiny most uniquely suited to the meaning, purpose and mission of his/her life."

Although the term "vocation of destiny" was coined by Barbara Marx Hubbard in the 1970’s, the concept it represents has been around for millennia. McInnes notes that the Latin root of ‘vocation’ means ‘calling,’ which corresponds with the even more ancient Vedic concept of dharma, the destined purpose for which one has incarnated. "The concept is common to most great spiritual teachings. For instance, Buddha was essentially referring to vocational destiny when he advised that ‘Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.’"

Buddha’s reference to "heart" was, McInnis says, mindful that "at the heart of vocational destiny is the heart itself. Vocational self-dominion is grounded in the heart, and only as we become present to our heart-felt vocational intentions do they become clearly apparent to our rational mind."

What AVN associates have in common is their heart-felt intention to align their vocational activities with the way they feel called to be present in the world. "For us, being ‘called’ is not about the lure of some outer objective; it’s about the calling forth from within of our greatest gifts" says McInnes. "It is only as emissaries of our inner callings that we are most likely to be a beneficial presence in one another’s lives. We hold our meetings in the spirit of ‘hearing one another out’ in the sense of the Quaker saying that ‘To listen a soul into disclosure and discovery is the greatest service one human being can offer another.’ By listening to one another with heartfelt and mindful intent, we hear what we mean to each other as well as what we have to say, which is mutually empowering. As a consequence, though some associates may come to our evening meetings in a low energy state, they leave invigorated."

AVN’s meetings have a broad perspective. "We hear one another out on behalf of celebrating vocations that are beneficial both to humankind and to lifekind overall. AVN associates are concerned with the wellbeing of our environment and planet as well as our own wellbeing and that of our significant others, friends, and communities. The vocations we represent are comparable in form, content, and spirit to the range of those that are featured in the pages of New ConneXion."

The organization of AVN is described by McInnis as an emergent, self-organizing and self-evolving participatory association, rather than a hierarchical organization. "Our program is spontaneously generated from our inspired exchanges of information, ideas, and insights when we gather. We have no membership fee. The cost of our activities, such as the rental of our meeting space, the cost of a booth at the Body Mind Spirit Expo or the Network’s website, is equally divided among the participants."

McInnis hopes eventually to have monthly meetings in each of Portland’s quadrants, as well as Vancouver. "The AVN model is exportable to any place where someone is willing and able to serve as its advocate and overall facilitator."

The AVN was founded in late 2003 by David Jacob, a Holographic Repatterning Practitioner, who reports that he did so "to fill a need within our community for a forum in which like minds could gather together in friendship and support each other in vocational realization."

AVN’s activities are held on third Thursday evenings from 7-9 p.m., currently at the Conversations With God Center, 1236 SW Salmon Ave. in downtown Portland. Please contact Noel McInnis to register or for more information: 503-570-4331 or noelmcinnis@awakenedvocation.net. Further information about AVN is available on its website, www.awakenedvocation.com.