Living by the Inner Compass...

    Some days, I wake up with enthusiasm. Others, I wake up only because I must. It’s in those quieter mornings, when energy is low and purpose feels distant, that Wordsworth’s “Ode to Duty” speaks to me the loudest.

    Duty is not a glamorous word. It doesn’t sparkle like passion or excitement. But it stays steady, silent, and unmoving. In the poem, Wordsworth calls Duty the “stern daughter of the voice of God” a reminder that some paths we walk not because they’re easy or joyful, but because they’re right.

    As a professor, I’ve had my share of tired days. Days when the classroom feels heavy, when students are distracted, and when I question if I’m making any difference at all. But still, I show up. And somehow, in that showing up over and over again, I’ve realized that duty has its own kind of grace. It’s not loud, but it’s deeply grounding.

    Wordsworth understood that real strength lies in doing what must be done, especially when no one’s watching. He admired those who follow the “high instincts of the soul” not out of fear or reward, but from an inner compass. That struck me. Because in my quiet persistence, I began to feel something deeper than motivation. I felt meaning.

    I no longer resist duty as a burden. I see it as a quiet form of love towards my work, my students, and even myself.

    Some live by impulse. I live by intention. And each small, repeated act though invisible to the world adds up to a life of quiet purpose.