Workwise, be wise

If work is our raison d’etre, how then should it be performed? With such rapt immersion that it becomes worship. Then, no matter what we’re doing, we express the Divine. When Walter, son of Toscanini, the renowned conductor was asked, “What was the greatest moment in your father’s life?” he answered, “He had no such thing. Whatever he did, at any moment, was the most important thing - whether conducting a symphony or peeling an orange.” Questioned on why he came to the master, the disciple said, “To see him tie his sandal straps.”

Work must be a passion. Robert Frost remarked, “My object…is to unite, my avocation and my vocation, as my two eyes make one in sight.” And adds, “Only where love and need are one…is the deed ever really done…” Three masons, building a house, were asked what they were doing. The first said, “Making a living,” the second replied, “Laying bricks under orders.” The third proclaimed, “Building a happy home!” “A labourer works with his hands; a craftsman, with his hands and brains. But he who works with his hands, brains and heart, why, he’s an artist.” (Louis Nizer)
Work, no matter how insignificant, has an impact. We must believe this. A man, walking on the beach, saw the tide bringing with it a host of starfish. As it receded, the fish were left behind.

The man began picking them up and throwing them back. A swimmer, watching him, laughed. “There are hundreds of them! What difference will your action make?” Not pausing, while throwing one more in, the man replied, “It made a difference to that one.” Mother Teresa remarked, “We can’t do great things, only small things with great love.”

Today, when work is frenzy and workaholism on the rise, the ancient storyteller, Aesop’s advice still rings true. One day, when he paused to enjoy a game with children, he was jeered. Unfazed, Aesop unstrung a bow and explained, “Keep a bow constantly bent, it will break. Slacken it, it’ll be far fitter when the need arises.” When we loosen our hold on work and its outcome, only then will we be able to resonate with the joy that work brings.