I’ve asked many people this question and the answers are varied, but the general approach to work has led me to think that we need to redefine what work means to us as a society as a whole.
Nowadays, many people (wage earners more than private entrepreneurs) tend to see work as something separate – something we do to earn money, something we have to take a break from, something we have to balance on a work-life scale, like a good-bad scale.
Despite this long-standing desire to rebalance, there are still more mental health struggles, work takes more of our energy than we want to give. Something is amiss in the equation and our efforts seem to be missing something.
The one thing I find missing from the equation is that there is no third corner on the work-spirit scale: deep personal spiritual development and meaning in life.
Work could be a natural part of our lives, helping us to find and express meaning and contribute to what really matters to us. Meaning in work is just a side effect of having meaning in your life. Work is merely one of the ways, one of the channels, for realising that meaning.
Imagine that work is not just an obligation, but part of our journey – a place where we can join others in pursuing common dreams, sharing common interests and creating something bigger than ourselves. When we work in this way, work becomes not a burden but an opportunity to live a meaningful and balanced life. Work as self-expression has a deeper value than work as work in the conventional sense.
