Work

This program is about work – what we consider work, how we balance work with other parts of our lives, whether we find meaning in our work, and how we decide what types of work are most important to us.

Member Preparation

The word work, as noun and verbs transitive and intransitive, fills quite a bit of space in the dictionary, with more scope of meaning than you might imagine. Perhaps the most useful definitions for our discussion are: to exert oneself in order to do or make something; to labor; to toil; to be employed. (Interesting detail - “Works, in theology: moral acts, distinguished from faith”) Synonyms given for the noun “work” sing a nicely rising tune: labor, toil, drudgery, employment, action, performance, feat, achievement.

We all do work, whether we are paid for it or not. In preparation for this session, take some time to read over the following quotes on work, and ponder the questions below.

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Before the reward there must be labor. You plant before you harvest. You sow in tears before you reap joy." -Ralph Ransom

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen." -Leonardo Da Vinci

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." -Theodore Roosevelt

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." -Bertrand Russell

These questions provide ways you may want to approach this topic. Please feel free to use the option of addressing just a few of the items in more depth if that suits you.

  • When has your work been: labor, toil, drudgery, employment, action, performance, feat, achievement?
  • Which of these proverbs do you live by: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” or “Idle hands get into mischief”
  • How is your image of yourself tied to your work? What would happen to that image if that work were taken away? Do you find yourself judging or ranking yourself (and/or others) by their employment (or lack of it)?
  • Most of us grew up in a culture that defined types of employment, household work and volunteer work as suitable for one gender or the other. How did these ideas influence you?
  • When is what you do more important, and when is how it's done more important?

Further Exploration