Khalil Gibran, the revered author of The Prophet, says in his poem ‘On Work’, “You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.” People all around the globe have associated a person’s daily work with something as exalted as spiritualism. It naturally follows that work is often held in high respect. However, when we talk of work being an act of love we do not seek to justify the practice of taking that love to the level of an unhealthy obsession.
It is important to understand the difference between loving work and obsessing about the same. When we love it, we appreciate and admire its ability to contribute to the society that we are living in. On the other hand, obsessing about it would be equal to trying to use the presence of work in our lives to compensate for some deep-seated sense of loss or absence. Loving our work helps us to go to bed each night with happiness in our hearts as we know that we will wake up and live to work another day; obsession does not necessarily create any feeling of happiness – it simply gives rise to a feeling of urgency that you need to be at work at any cost.
It is at this point that we should all stop for a few moments to ponder what exactly do we consider as being work? Is it the 9 to 5 desk job that we regard as being work or the toil a farmer has to put in his fields each day for the harvest? Do we acknowledge the fact that artists, singers, photographers and writers work too or are we content with considering just accounting entries in bookkeeping as a legitimate form of work? To start with we need to realize that all kinds of professional effort go into constituting what we consider as being work!
The farmer tilling the field feels great attachment to the first crops of the season. It is almost as if they nurture the crops like their own children. Farmers sow the seeds and water them; they keep a watchful eye on the crops until they are ripe enough to be harvested. Such a complex process can never be brought to its fruition unless there is a lot of love involved in doing it. Time and again we have witnessed farmers speaking out their minds about the need of betterment in agricultural practices; what is that if not the love for the work that they do?
Just as we have the farmer working on the fields, we have an editor working on the laptop, perhaps sitting at the edge of the farm. An editor needs to toil on the manuscripts that a publishing or media house keeps dropping in the email box. The editor shoulders the responsibility for the quality of what the majority of the world will be reading the very next day! There is a lot that rests on those shoulders, and even though the weight of this responsibility may ache the back at times, the editor who loves what they do will always come back with more determination and drive to publish best quality content.
Photo by Mohit GuptaWhat about the artists who are amazed by their own creations? Or the chef who lovingly sends out the carefully crafted dish? Or the janitor who marvels at the shining floors and the clean walls? Or the rickshaw driver who wants to ensure that every ride is a joyful experience? Or the writer who reading his own work wonders that could it really have been him? Each one of them loves what they do. And that is the crux.
We can only work with a smile on our faces if we love what we do. For the ones who wake up every morning excited and charged up to go to work, feeling the rush of excitement for the day ahead, it is not work at all. It is simply what they love to do. It is never a question of glorifying work. For them it is not a case of work is worship, it is simply that they love what they do for a living. For the others, who count the hours and who only work to make a living, the hours are torture. It is that drudgery that eats away at their souls. They can never experience the contentment that comes from work that is fulfilling.
For me it was never about the 9 to 5, ‘cause I simply love what I do.
Written by Poonam Chatterjee.
Week 8, February 2021
