It's all about balance – among meaning, compassion, helping one another flourish, and maybe remembering to cherish oneself as well. "Productivity"? Maybe a bit less. Jonathan Malesic in the New York Times raises important and challenging issues in his essay "The Future of Work Should Mean Working Less". Setting aside debatable-political asides, a key bit:
| ... those of us fortunate enough to have jobs that consistently provide us with meaning ... [need] ... a reminder that we may not always have that kind of work. Anything from a sudden health issue to the natural effects of aging to changing economic conditions can leave us unemployed. So we should look for purpose beyond our jobs and then fill work in around it. We each have limitless potential, a unique "genius," as Henry David Thoreau called it. ... Pursuing our genius, whether in art or conversation or sparring at a jiujitsu gym, will awaken us to "a higher life than we fell asleep from," Thoreau wrote ... |
And among other insightful thoughts:
... Patricia Nordeen would like to teach again one day, but given her health at the moment, full-time work seems out of the question. ... Patricia said that making art is often "meditative" for her. "If I'm trying to draw a plant, I'm really looking at the plant," she said. "I'm noticing all the different shades of color that maybe I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't drawing it." Her absorption in the task – the feel of the pen on paper – "puts the pain out of focus." ...
and
"... I've had to evaluate my core values," she said, and find a new identity and community without the work she loved. Chronic pain made it hard to write, sometimes even to read. She started drawing, painting and making collages, posting the art on Instagram. She made friends there and began collaborations with them, like a 100-day series of sketchbook pages – abstract watercolors, collages, flower studies – she exchanged with another artist. A project like this allows her to exercise her curiosity. It also "gives me a sense of validation, like I'm part of society," she said. ...
and
... each one of us has dignity whether we work or not. Your job, or lack of one, doesn't define your human worth. ...
and
... The idea that all people have dignity before they ever work, or if they never do, has been central to Catholic social teaching for at least 130 years. In that time, popes have argued that jobs ought to fit the capacities of the people who hold them, not the productivity metrics of their employers. ...
and
... It's true that people often find their jobs meaningful, as Patricia did in her academic career or as I did while working on this essay. ... For too many of us, if we aren't breaking our bodies, then we're drowning in trivial email. This is not the purpose of a human life. ...
and
... Dignity, compassion, leisure: These are pillars of a more humane ethos, one that acknowledges that work is essential to a functioning society but often hinders individual workers' flourishing. This ethos would certainly benefit Patricia Nordeen and might allow students to benefit from her teaching ability. ...
Maybe most important:
| Your compassion can evoke mine. |
(cf Practical Productivity (2004-01-20), Steady State Economy (2005-06-11), Steadiness of Heart (2011-07-13), Yasutani Roshi (2015-01-28), World as Ocean (2015-03-25), Wings of Acceptance (2015-05-26), Our Job for the Rest of Our Life (2015-07-18), We Are One (2017-07-22), Bob Sutton on Work and Life and Balance (2019-10-30), Chaucer Doth Tweet (2020-05-23), Self-Compassion (2020-06-08), Compassionate Living (2020-08-30), ...) - ^z - 2021-09-26