How We Find Meaning in Our Work
And various adventures from meaning-making friends and colleagues
Recently we published, Change the Incentive, Change the Outcome, in which we suggested that if we change the incentive from “financial” to “meaning” it would be a game changer for humanity. After publication Maria and I continued to talk about meaning, and decided there is more to say. Much more.
But what is meaning? And what does it look like?
Not very easy questions to answer, but important to explore rather than merely assuming others know what we mean by it.
So, we came up with the idea of querying people in our circle who (in our perception) do meaningful work and asked them to share with us what they find meaningful about their work.
The responses we received are powerful and illuminating. The key is that there is no wrong answer. It’s unique to the individual. The similarity with these individuals is that they each made sacrifices to do what feels meaningful to them. Some had thriving careers doing work that was not so meaningful and then changed course. Some are making less money. Some are making more. Some have left careers they were credentialed in to do something radically different. One created his own position through fund raising. And one is a global trend center changing the way the field of law is practiced.
And so, here they are, each from a unique perspective and entirely different types of career paths.
Rachael, Founder and Owner of a growing early childhood education center in Jacksonville, Florida:
“I find my work meaningful because: we are waking the wonder through natural experiences, honoring individuality, and seeing and honoring children as strong, capable, and important members of the learning community who have valuable and unique contributions.”
Jordan, Executive Director of a non-profit that mentors adolescent boys:
“By inspiring young people at a soul level, I'm able to plant seeds at an important time in their lives. This connects me to divinity and a pool of infinite possibility in a way that is deeply meaningful.”
Eric, a psychotherapist with a focus on addiction:
“There is no greater gift I can give my clients, then to give a compassionate ear and be a vessel for them to be heard. In turn, they can foster their own internal compassion for themselves and all their parts, and leave my office feeling more hopeful and inspired!”
Lanny, an outdoor nature instructor and author:
"I feel most impactful when I’m teaching outside in nature, helping myself and others reconnect with our ancestral Mother Earth.”
Pardise, a non-profit sales executive:
"I find it meaningful that the values of my employer are perfectly in alignment with mine."
Hannah, a breath work facilitator:
“I empower people to become their own self-healers.”
Rikki, founder/owner of a fair-trade business offering handcrafted art and clothing from Central Asia:
“What makes my work with artisans in Central Asia meaningful is the opportunity to showcase both the beautiful artistic diversity and our common humanity, which help dispel the divisive sense of ‘otherness.’”
Jaime, an integrative health coach:
“What I find most meaningful about my work is the ability to help people discover empowerment in their own healing and the transformational outcomes that are the inevitable result.”
David, an author, photographer, and blogger:
“I find that meaning and love go hand in hand. Love of the world and seeing the Divine in all things urges expression. So the act of exercising my aesthetic, whether photographing, editing or contemplating images that for me reflect the Ground of All Being, my perception of life and cosmos is expanded; along with it comes joy and an expansion of consciousness. The entire process generates meaning by validating my purpose and mission.”
Kim, a lawyer, speaker, author, and facilitator focused on integrative law:
“My friend, author Pat Sullivan, is an author in the spirituality and work genre. She talks a lot about working with meaning and joy. I always think that the two are intertwined. The meaning in my work brings me joy. The joy in my work makes it more meaningful. By focusing my changemaking activities on the legal profession, I can easily see that my efforts have the potential for big cultural change. I am excited about having that kind of impact.”
Maria, my life and work partner:
“What is meaningful to me about the work I do, is seeing the excitement and wonder in the eyes of our clients as they realize their vision and clearly see all the possibility it holds.”
And my own feeling of meaning related to the brand strategy and design work I do:
“I find my greatest meaning when I’m able to accurately capture the true essence of a client’s vision and translate their essence into language and design that is deeply compelling and resonant for those who share the same values.”
As we received the above quotes over a period of a couple of weeks I found myself reflecting on each of them. For Pardise it’s as simple as working for an employer who has values that align with her own. This resonates with me, as I’ve worked for numerous companies in which I felt out of alignment with the company, and it was soul crushing.
Jordan’s quote is profound in that he connects the act of planting seeds in the minds of adolescent boys with a feeling of divinity and infinite possibility.
Kim’s notion of joy and meaning being as two sides of the same coin is thought provoking and insightful, as there are aspects of my work that I find joyful, and from the joy I also find meaning.
If I look carefully at the moments of joy in my own work, they come from insights and breakthroughs that lead to positive change. Like when a client has an aha moment, and I perceive from their new awareness that it will cascade into a series of changes. I see this in each of the quotes — that what each individual is referring is an element of change that leads to a feeling of meaning and even joy.
One of the teachings I received from the Navajo people related to how ceremony works, is that ceremony is segmented into two halves. In simple terms, the first half of a ceremony is dealing with the bad stuff, and the second half is dealing with the good stuff. Or more deeply, the first half is dredging up and peeling away those things that are in need of healing within us, and the second half is being in gratitude for the healing.
And so with each small change in life, the change itself can be hard but after the change we see the light of a new dawn and a new way of being in the world.
As I referred to in the essay, Change the Incentive, Change the Outcome, we have only to change our focus from monetary to meaning to effect a profound change in our culture. Thus understanding the nature of meaning can be as simple as seeking positive change in ourselves and assisting others to change in a positive way.
Which also means we celebrate the act of leaning into the discomfort of change and honoring and supporting others when they lean in.
Change is also the nature of reality. Nature is constantly changing, as are celestial bodies, and the Universe itself is in a constant state of expansion. So, as we embrace change we are aligning ourselves with all of creation. Perhaps this is why change is so joyful, because we have stopped being in resistance to life and are instead living in the flow of change.
As Lanny said, “helping myself and others reconnect with our ancestral Mother Earth,” he is implying that we align with the great constant of change that is the nature of Mother Earth. Words from others that stand out are, impact, waking, learning, inspired, empowering, dispel, expansion, and transformation. These are action words that lie at the heart of what each of these individuals find meaningful about their work.
I’ve found the collection of these quotes and the writing of this post deeply meaningful. If I search for the action words that reflects what I’ve found meaningful about it I would say offer, provide, intuit, and create. Maybe even stimulate, evoke, and entertain. And I’m feeling joyful as I craft these words and bring this post to a state of readiness for Maria to do her editing work.
Let us know in the comments what you find meaningful about your work, as we would love to add your insight to this conversation.
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