Moose Jaw readers will find a familiar backdrop and a deeply relatable message in Engineering the Soul: A Working Life Memoir, the newly published first book by Moose Jaw-born author Chris Himsl. Though Himsl has lived in Calgary for many years after building a successful 39-year career as a mechanical engineer, the friendly city of Moose Jaw remains part of the fabric of his formative years. From graduating from Vanier Collegiate to cruising Main Street, circling from McDonald’s down to the CPR station in search of weekend house parties, Himsl’s early experiences in Moose Jaw helped lay the groundwork for a life defined by steady dedication and practical wisdom.

Himsl’s early work ethic was forged right here in Moose Jaw during hot prairie summers cutting grass for the City. He vividly recalls one of his first summer jobs painting the outdoor pool at the Natatorium, where the hot sun reflecting off white walls had him ready to quit after day one. Yet, the job instilled a vital lesson that endured throughout his nearly four-decade engineering career and that is the importance of doing a job well and giving it your best effort, even when you do not completely enjoy the task at hand.

His trajectory toward post-secondary education and engineering was heavily influenced by his home life and schooling. His mother taught at Vanier Collegiate while he attended, setting a powerful example of determination. After teaching full days, she regularly drove night after night to the University of Regina and oftentimes on treacherous winter roads to complete her education degree. Inspired by her perseverance and guided by a high school counsellor who noted his strong math and science skills, Himsl embarked on his engineering degree.

Unlike conventional career memoirs filled with dramatic epiphanies or relentless passion, Engineering the Soul offers a refreshingly honest and unconventional perspective. Himsl spent much of his career grappling with self-doubt, wondering if he had chosen the wrong path or settled because he lacked the constant “spark” society insists everyone must feel for their job.

“I experienced a lot of angst going through university, pursuing a career that I thought should feel like a calling, but didn’t,” Himsl shared. “I stuck with it, and throughout my years of working, I always questioned myself and the choices I made. When I retired, I went looking for a book by someone who had maybe experienced the same kind of self-doubt about their career but powered through anyway. I couldn’t find that book so I decided to write it.”

Navigating corporate buyouts, management shake-ups, and endless routine meetings over nearly 40 years required quiet resilience and humor. As Himsl notes, when navigating workplace changes that made little sense, “all you could do was keep your head down, do your job, and hope the latest change didn’t result in a pink slip. And if it didn’t… you just had to hope the coffee pot was fresh, full, and waiting.

Himsl’s background in technical report writing helped him communicate with clarity and conciseness, but he made a conscious effort to weave humour and human connection throughout the book. Readers will enjoy lighthearted anecdotes, such as a university cooking mishap at College West in Regina where a strained pot of spaghetti accidentally acquired a dishrag adding some unexpected “extra fibre” to his roommate’s dinner.

Ultimately, retirement allowed Himsl to reframe what makes a working life truly worthwhile. He argues that work does not have to be a spiritual calling to be valuable. Beyond personal fulfillment, work provides income that finances security, home ownership, family life, vacations, and retirement. It offers community through lifelong friendships built with colleagues, daily structure and routine, and a sense of usefulness from being needed.

For Moose Jaw readers, whether young professionals starting out or seasoned workers reflecting on their choices, Himsl hopes his story brings encouragement and comfort.

“When we talk about careers, passion is often made out to be something simple: find it, then do it. It’s rarely that simple,” Himsl reflects. “If you didn’t spend your days hating the job, and on top of that you did your best, treated people decently, and built something worth having outside of work, I’d call that a success.”

As he summarizes near the book’s conclusion: “Not every job is a calling, sometimes work is just work, and that’s okay.”

Engineering the Soul: A Working Life Memoir is available online. For more information about Chris Himsl and his writing, visit chrishimsl.com.

By Joan Ritchie

Moose Jaw Express