It just struck me today, right now, as I was walking down the corridor to respond to nature's call, that my work can be divided into three broad categories:
One. The work that I do directly for the organisation that is necessary (mainly from the organisation's point of view), routine and somewhat tedious - for example, writing progress or annual reports. I have an inbuilt resistance to actually doing this kind of work that I have to struggle against in order to get things done on time. Sometimes it actually hurts me to do these kinds of things. I still find myself unable to say no.
Two. The work that I do directly for the organisation that is necessary (more from my point of view), non-routine and in-line with my own passion - for example, facilitating group discussions on vision, strategies, organisational change, monitoring and evalaution, action research, participation, etc. Though I am not yet so great at this, I pine for opportunities to do this kind of work and struggle to create the space to do this in the way that I want, based on the principles that I either believe in or am trying to learn about.
Three. The work that I do primarily for myself, for my own learning and personal development - for example, reading articles, blogs and emails, writing my own blog or in my diary, posting comments on discussion forums and mailing lists, doing some meditation or reflection... and so on. This work fills me with satisfaction but has the danger of making me narcissistic or self-obsessed and tends to stop me from focusing properly on one. It does, however, have the fortunate advantage of helping me understand myself better.
Obtaining balance between these elements seems to be key. My service to the organisation (one) opens up a space for me to do what I am passionate about (two) - which (as far as I am concerned) is more of a service to not just the organisation but the world in general - and is, therefore, very important. On the basis of my experiences in two, I have a basis and grounding for my personal learning and development (three), which also helps me become more effective in two. Three, therefore, is integral to two and is also very, very important.
I remember someone, somewhere, talking about something called 'a social life'. As I struggle to retain a happy balance between one, two and three, I am still trying to figure out where and how this 'social life' thing fits in to my schema! That must be the bit where I go home and eat food with my house-mates, chat nonsense, jump about, have a beer and make silly jokes. And what, exactly does all that contribute to?
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my journey of learning and change. at large. in the world.
- Andre
- Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
- collaborative explorer-activist working for inter-subjective improvement in the quality of life on planet earth
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1 comment:
My Dearest Andre some of the greatest ideas come when the nature is calling you, then there you can stop worrying about going here or going there and so also your mind is some how in some way in peace and this is in some way different then how you are when you are meditating as then you start to just live with out any social concept and so the question of social welfare is out of question in any socially acceptable ways.
Well as my understanding goes it’s the 3rd kind of work which matters the most, I can see that the 2nd will grow as the 2nd is well devolved. It’s your personal development which is going to make your vision clear and so will be your ideas about the work. And so will grow your passion for the work. There is not much difference between passion and clear vision; you can only have passion when you are very clear about the reality of the reason.
again the 3rd is of grater importance as the 2nd is just a consequence of the 3rd, you left as you knew that there is more of a savage in you then a scholar, savage in the sense that you are some one who is not thinking that he knows, some one who is not carrying the burden of any degree but simply humble enough to say that here I am to do and to learn. And so you left for the village. Vanity is stupidity. Villages are valuable.
In fact you have been very intelligent to put it in the last as its the most important thing I can think of. Once you are clear like a in your mind then that clearly will show all the people the way , when the you mind is clear then it makes you existence calm and your actions compassionate.
As about the social life it’s the collective way of the society to say that we are all alone.
Brother I loved your words and more then that I love the way you work, work that you do.
...Samvit.....
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