Loving your work does not mean liking every minute or being passionate about everything you do. Love can be a quiet hum in the background, a basic feeling that the work you are doing has value, fits you, and matches a desire to accomplish something.
The soul is your depth, like the rich earth nourishing a flower… From it your life emanates and blossoms.
Many people find themselves successful and well-off at the top of the ladder, and yet they feel unsettled, incomplete, and yearning for something more. They may look higher for signs of further progress, when they might better look deeper. Family, home , friends, and deep-seated spirituality might be the root nourishment they crave.
A life work is the emergence of your unique self, worked through and manifested in the things that you do. If you don’t dig deep enough into yourself and see the world around you perceptively, your life work may always appear elusive. But if you live from a deep place, your life work will blossom like a flower.
One of the most important task everyone has to face is the care of their soul, the making of a personality, a life , and a society in which the values of soul – beauty, intimacy, creativity, and individuality – can flourish.
The personal, informal psychotherapy I am recommending in the quest for a life work entails creating a soulful style of living… By style I mean the manner in which you do things, your own way of seeing things, getting things done, and designing your life.
A soulful life is one of thoughtfulness, care and engagement – you are present in everything you do, not just going through the motions. You give attention to the things that matter most. You take care of your body and your health. You make your home a place of comport, welcome, and beauty. You educate yourself throughout your life in values and solid ideas. Your leisure time relaxes you, gives you a rich social life, and provides fun and play. Your spirituality is deep as well as visionary, and you incorporate contemplation, discussion, ritual, and prayer into everyday life, and you do all of this in a style that suits you as an an individual.
– Thomas Moore from “A Life at Work”
I am convinced that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do.
– Henry David Thoreau
The alchemists thought that the opus demanded not only laboratory work, the reading of books, mediation, and patience, but also love.
– C. G. Jung