Why We Work

Why we work has always been an interesting question to me. Not many people really look at why they work - they just work thinking that is what they need to do.

James Hollis a psychologist and author of the book The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysis) talks about how organizations are commonly a place where people transfer their feelings onto. He says "most commonly activated in organizations are the parental and authority complex. The projection of parental authority onto an employer causes us to expect that the company will love us, give us security, meet our emotional needs." Of course this is not happening now nor has it ever really. In his book The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts) he says:

A job is what we hold to earn money and to meet economic demands. A vocation (from Latin vocatus, calling) is what we are called to do with our life's energy. It is a requisite part of our individuation to feel that we are productive and not responding to one's calling can damage the soul. We do not really choose a vocation; rather it chooses us. Our only choice is how we respond".

A.H. Almaas in his book Diamond Heart, Book One: Elements of the Real in Man (The Diamond Heart Series , No 1) (Bk.1) says "Your career, interests, relationships are very important- but they are only as important insofar as they lead you toward a deeper understanding of yourself. Otherwise they are irrelevant."It is not saying that it is not OK to have a career or something that you pursue. Our quest for careers and relationships are really a deeper calling to fill a hole in ourselves left by the things that have been lost during the process of growing up. Each hole is a loss of awareness of ourselves. We begin thinking that we are not good enough or smart enough as a result of some of the simplest acts from are early childhood caregivers. When an infant is born it is in a state of complete wholeness -or essence. We lose our essence in the process of developing our personalities. We do things just because we hope that they will bring us a feeling of being loved. We try to fill those holes with being successful and things that we think will give us value. So when you lose your job or relationship that was filling that hole you feel empty and alone. The pain of seeing our 'holes' from such loss is a way to become more alive and see what it is that we were trying to fill with those jobs and relationships. When you can feel the pain of the hole or void that you were trying to fill, then you can approach jobs and relationships with a different perspective or meaning. You can look for jobs or relationships that make you feel more alive and are more fulfilling rather than just a job to make money.

Many choose their line of work just because they need something to do to pay the bills. People go to college and pursue careers that their parents think is best for them. No one ever asks if you are interested in learning about that topic or if you have passion for that topic. We spend so much time at work, you would think that would be the first question to ask. Most people just find jobs - any jobs or jobs that are the least of two evils. They climb corporate ladders and get stuck with higher levels of pay but are stressed and burned out. Lacking fulfillment they are stuck because after all they bought that new house on that salary and can't get out of it or can't make the tough decision to sell the house and be happier. By choosing a career that fills you with joy and happiness, you will find your way back to your true essence.

Usually sometime around mid-life starting as early as 35 people are starting to want more than just a paycheck or job. These days jobs aren't all they are cracked up to be anyways. Companies are falling left and right and leaving their employees out in the cold. Having little experience in any other field and after years of shutting off their inner lives, people are finding themselves depressed and fed up.

Creating or finding a vocation is about listening to the voice within - what calls you to action? What do you love to learn about read about or talk about? How can you make that into something that pays you to pursue that avenue? A calling is that to which the soul summons us. Yes, we need to make a living but it can be done while feeding the soul and usually done much easier.

For me it has been creating websites and writing about what I love and find very intriguing. Everywhere I look I am thinking that should be made into a website. I know that there are other ways to pursue your dreams and passion than websites but the thing is to let go and start pursuing it now.

Think about what people will be saying at your funeral. Will they be saying "He worked so much and so hard and never had any time for enjoying his life or family"?

Work is really a representation of all of our dysfunctional family patterns. We project our unmet needs into our work situations and continue sacrificing our true inner lives for the work we do instead of finding work that helps that inner voice come alive. Staying in dead end jobs and unsatisfying jobs will eventually lead to suffering - depression, pain , health problems.

We look to work (something outside of ourselves) to fulfill those unmet, unconscious needs. What is unconscious will become our fate - the words of Carl Jung.