Meaningful Work

 Recently I have been reading more work from Brene Brown - The Gifts of Imperfection. I've read and followed Brene now for a number of years and really enjoyed this particular book. One thing that really resonated with me was her chapter on Meaningful work. Interestingly enough I had just finished reading this chapter when my daughter, who is extremely creative, said to me "Aren't you lucky to have someone who can bake so well (she's decorates and makes cakes in her spare time), play the piano and teach dance? I'm just amazing..."  And it really made me stop and think - yes she is pretty amazing. 

I was bought up in the era of one job for life...and as we know now that isn't the case. But what got me from that conversation with my daughter was the ability for her to transfer all her skills across a number of work opportunities and make meaning of what she does. She makes little money off her cake decorating - for her it's her meaningful work. She does it because she loves it, it brings joy to her and to others and she delights in seeing the creations that she produces. Often I am called to the kitchen to look at the latest creation and hearing her excitement in this brings me great joy. But it brings her meaning. The delight that the child or person she has made the cake for when they receive it, the photos that are taken at the birthday party, the thanks that she is given and the cakes that are ordered again is the meaning behind her work. She also teaches dance , which once again doesn't bring her the great income that is needed to survive in this economic society but her creativity, the joy on her students faces and seeing them progress, the delight in having their teacher again and the skills she brings all add to her meaning for her job. Her actual job she loves (working in a local bakery) and she is learning lots of skills that she then brings over to her cake making. 






This all got me thinking about cultivating meaningful work. According to Brene Brown those living a wholehearted life are those that cultivate meaning or feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment and purpose from their work. What Brene Brown found from her research was that all people have gifts and talents and when we cultivate these and share them with the world we create a sense of purpose. If we don't cultivate these gifts we feel disconnected and weighed down by feelings of emptiness, resentment, shame, disappointment. Noone can define what meaningful work is for another person - meaning is unique to each one of us. 

So we need to find out what our gifts and talents are. We need to let go of the self doubt that haunts us - the voice that tells us that we are supposed to be making money (doesn't worry my daughter - luckily she lives at home !), you're supposed to grow up and get a real job, you're supposed to find work a drag and so on and so on. According to Brene we need to start owning our own messages and acknowledge the messages that we send ourselves. Those messages of self doubt. We also need to rethink about how we define ourselves. When we are asked what do we say we do? I usually say I'm a teacher - but actually I'm far more than that (yes , and along with teacher there is everything we do as a teacher) but I'm actually talking about my other side. I'm a teacher and a coach/mentor  (the reason I write the blog). I love helping others, coaching others and seeing others grow into their personality. I'm really lucky that I get to do this through my teacher role but I also get to do in other places (mainly my blog currently but some others through face to face). 

Marci Alboher talks about having the One person/multiple jobs. So you could be a plumber/artist, or like my daughter a front of house /cake maker/dancer.  A teacher/real estate agent (yes I have one of those on our staff!) All of these people can integrate and fully express who they are without having to have just one career to accommodate their needs. All of this really made me realise that whilst organising Professional development or writing policies is not the greatest thing about my job the meaningful part of my both my jobs comes from the chances and the opportunities to coach when I can. The way I run meetings, or the way that I speak to staff and students. 

So how do we do this. Brene Brown suggests a couple of things:

1) Get inspired (read her work or the work of Marci Alboher, or Paulo Coelho't The Alchemist) 

2) Get going. Make a list that inspires you - don't be practical. Think about what you love. As Brene says 
"There's nothing that says you have to quit your day job to cultivate meaningful work. There's nothing to say you day job isn't meaningful work - maybe you've just never thought of it that way". 

3) What's your ideal slash?  Have a think and connect it back to what makes meaning. 

So have a go - think about what brings meaning to you. Ask yourself - am a building someone who is living a wholehearted life? 

Until next week. 


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