Meaningful Work
Bishoy Fanous
Writing 102
Professor Riveland
9 February 2013
The Meaning of Work When one thinks of meaningful work, generally they think of labor that accomplishes a certain goal. They think of a prestigious job or occupation that has meaning to it. But meaningful work can mean a lot more than just a prestigious job or having meaning to something you do. Meaningful work can be as simple as feeding the birds in the park on a Saturday morning. It can be helping someone out or looking out for someone in need. Meaningful work can be defined as enjoyment of the worker, dedication of the worker to the job, and involvement that the worker shows toward his job. When students start to think of jobs, they try to think of something that they would love doing for the rest of their lives. But instead they end up running after well-paying jobs and prestigious jobs. They feel that society would judge them in a way that would put them at the bottom of the job spectrum. So they end up going for a top of the line jobs that give good salaries but at the same time are boring or not meaningful to them. Therefore, when it comes to jobs you want something you will enjoy doing for the rest of your life. You want something that you will satisfy you in life rather then depress you. According to Epstein in the section Work and its Contents from his book he says, “The most fortunate people of all, though, are those for whom the line between work and play gets rubbed out, for whom work is pleasure and pleasure is in work” (Epstein, 31). In other words, Epstein believes that your job should be close if not the same as your play time or the time you spend doing what pleases you. This can conclude my point that work that is not enjoyable to the person who is doing it gives it no meaning. It does not matter how prestigious or high paying the job is, if it’s not enjoyable, then it will not be meaningful to the person doing it. Also we notice in Epstein’s quote the part where he says that the
Writing 102
Professor Riveland
9 February 2013
The Meaning of Work When one thinks of meaningful work, generally they think of labor that accomplishes a certain goal. They think of a prestigious job or occupation that has meaning to it. But meaningful work can mean a lot more than just a prestigious job or having meaning to something you do. Meaningful work can be as simple as feeding the birds in the park on a Saturday morning. It can be helping someone out or looking out for someone in need. Meaningful work can be defined as enjoyment of the worker, dedication of the worker to the job, and involvement that the worker shows toward his job. When students start to think of jobs, they try to think of something that they would love doing for the rest of their lives. But instead they end up running after well-paying jobs and prestigious jobs. They feel that society would judge them in a way that would put them at the bottom of the job spectrum. So they end up going for a top of the line jobs that give good salaries but at the same time are boring or not meaningful to them. Therefore, when it comes to jobs you want something you will enjoy doing for the rest of your life. You want something that you will satisfy you in life rather then depress you. According to Epstein in the section Work and its Contents from his book he says, “The most fortunate people of all, though, are those for whom the line between work and play gets rubbed out, for whom work is pleasure and pleasure is in work” (Epstein, 31). In other words, Epstein believes that your job should be close if not the same as your play time or the time you spend doing what pleases you. This can conclude my point that work that is not enjoyable to the person who is doing it gives it no meaning. It does not matter how prestigious or high paying the job is, if it’s not enjoyable, then it will not be meaningful to the person doing it. Also we notice in Epstein’s quote the part where he says that the
Cited: Epstein, Joseph. "Work and It Contents." Once More Around the Block. New York: Norton, 1987. Print. Meaningful Work Comes from Passion, Not Genius. Perf. Malcolm Gladwell. Meaningful Work Comes from Passion, Not Genius. Bnet.com, 29 Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. Sowell, Thomas. "Meaningful Work." NationalReview.com 29 May 2012: Web.