In 1974, Studs Terkel published Working, a book of interviews that described work as “a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread.” Since then, work has changed. I’m trying to write an update.
This was a lovely piece. I struggled to get into Terkel's Work but this practically read itself. Thank you! Was this compiled from many conversations or just one?
The interview with Lee is in person, and the interview with the therapist was on Zoom (she is a kind stranger who volunteered when I asked on Reddit). I see some difference between in-person and Zoom
> At that point, I was giving up the lighting industry. I knew it. It moved too fast. I didn’t know how long I’d be gone. But I knew the technology would change. The people would change. Everything would change.
[...]
> Wonder dissolves age. Nobody is old in front of something they’ve never seen before.
Career changes are strange like this - the realization that you may have niched down onto the frontier of whatever vehicle is encouraging forward change, then realizing that it requires an enormous amount of emotional and constitutional energy to stay there.
It's no surprise that in the modern age we are seeing such an increase in burnout or sabbatical remove in the workforce; we have developed so many new frontiers that anyone who stays at the front of them often runs out of the energy to keep going. The moment that you stop moving with that momentum, it can feel as though you are being left behind.
What I truly love about this interview is the fact that you've tapped into the sense of fulfillment she has found in not keeping pace, but rather seeking out how the threads of a previous life might fit into whatever personal frontiers can be made instead. It makes, I think, for a far more fulfilling life, which it does seem Lee has felt she has had.
Gibran once wrote, to the great discredit of those who called him a pop philosopher:
> You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
This was a lovely piece. I struggled to get into Terkel's Work but this practically read itself. Thank you! Was this compiled from many conversations or just one?
I'll look forward to the future installment!
Thank you, Hugo. This is a thoughtful and encouraging comment. This was compiled from a single long conversation (3 hours!).
I did two other profiles, and I published one: https://www.not-a-rehearsal.com/p/working-clay-is-messy-so-is-therapy
The interview with Lee is in person, and the interview with the therapist was on Zoom (she is a kind stranger who volunteered when I asked on Reddit). I see some difference between in-person and Zoom
I hadn't read that one, I remember seeing a quote of it but I hadn't gotten around to reading it. It was good too!
> At that point, I was giving up the lighting industry. I knew it. It moved too fast. I didn’t know how long I’d be gone. But I knew the technology would change. The people would change. Everything would change.
[...]
> Wonder dissolves age. Nobody is old in front of something they’ve never seen before.
Career changes are strange like this - the realization that you may have niched down onto the frontier of whatever vehicle is encouraging forward change, then realizing that it requires an enormous amount of emotional and constitutional energy to stay there.
It's no surprise that in the modern age we are seeing such an increase in burnout or sabbatical remove in the workforce; we have developed so many new frontiers that anyone who stays at the front of them often runs out of the energy to keep going. The moment that you stop moving with that momentum, it can feel as though you are being left behind.
What I truly love about this interview is the fact that you've tapped into the sense of fulfillment she has found in not keeping pace, but rather seeking out how the threads of a previous life might fit into whatever personal frontiers can be made instead. It makes, I think, for a far more fulfilling life, which it does seem Lee has felt she has had.
Gibran once wrote, to the great discredit of those who called him a pop philosopher:
> You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.