Art Through Service

Darren is one of my favorite discoveries. Here he writes of what he calls “proactive service.” (Sir is a woman.)

Sir and I had a talk last night about proactive service. I haven’t been very on the ball with this sort of thing lately, so it was a good conversation to have and make me more mindful of my responsibilities to her.

The conversation started off with a simple thing. I had initially sat down in the living room and turned the fan to make sure it was blowing on me. I had Sir’s permission to watch some TV, so I was relaxing a bit. Sir came downstairs a few minutes later and sat down at the table to do her nails. I asked her if she needed anything, and she said no. I then returned my attention to the TV.

When Sir was done with her nails, she sat down on the couch opposite me, where the fan would not reach her. It was a rather hot night, but she waited a few minutes to see if I would move the fan to blow on her before telling me to do so. She was hoping I would be mindful enough to notice

Out of this, came a great conversation. In my mind, I had done my duty in asking her if she needed anything and proceeded to turn off the service part of my brain. But to her, while I had been considerate in asking that, the duty does not and should not end there. Service should be an ongoing thing, prompted by being observant and looking for specific opportunities to serve.

For example, asking “do you need anything?” is a good start. But knowing when she last had a cigarette and offering to light her one is better. She’s not expecting me to be a mind-reader, but I do know Sir well enough by now to be more specific in my offerings of service and to predict some of her needs.

Art Through Service

Originally posted 2006-08-15 06:06:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter