12-04-2009, 02:30 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-04-2009, 02:32 AM by Questioner.)
Hi Clordio,
I encourage your exploration of the spiritual value of work in your life. I love to see people ask these kinds of questions. I hope I can be of some service in your investigations.
May I recommend a few books that might help inspire your contemplations? They are all focused on the concept that only you can decide the meaning of your own life, but there are techniques that can bring those choices into focus so that you can see the heart of them.
Zen and the art of making a living, by Lawrence Boldt
Pathfinder, by Nicholas Lore
What color is your parachute,
and, The three boxes of life, both by Richard Nelson Bolles
You like to be hands-on with something directly practical for basic human needs, like food, transportation, materials, and shelter.
By the way, for a very comprehensive list of industries, check out NAICS at http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/naicod02.htm. This is the list used to keep track of government economic statistics, so you'll find a very comprehensive definition of almost all types of businesses here. This might help you narrow down, for example, which types of transportation most appeal to you. (I'd guess, for instance, that you might find freight trains more satisfying to your interests than luxury charter jets.)
Has someone told you that the types of industries that resonate with you are somehow lower in some moral scale of ethical worth or respectability? Do you believe that? Would it make any difference to the judges that some of the richest people in the history of humanity made their wealth collecting flammable sludge from underground (Getty), from tools to help others collect this sludge (Hughes), from an invention intended to reduce the drudgery of the farm (Ford, who originally aspired to make tractors), and from putting metal pieces on the ground so stuff could roll on top of them (Carnegie, who funded half the nation's public libraries)? Would it make a difference to them to know that Bill Gates got his start in business with equipment for a city to count how many cars drove over a rubber hose on the road?
Has someone told you that using your hands, expressing the Creator's love for others through your body's activity, is lower in value than intellectual organization of ideas? Do you believe that?
Now, consider the value of science in those occupations. Would it help a steel worker to understand metallurgy? Would it help a transportation system worker to know calculus when they build a schedule or pack materials? Would it help a food worker to know biochemistry? If you were to make your highest contribution as you see it, would that technical education help you serve with greater depth of understanding, so your hands could do more to help the lives of others?
If this kind of education is relevant, could you get reasonable work without it and then afford to go back to school? Or are your chances of a good living better if you have more schooling before starting your career? If formal training would help you learn these things, should it be a practical apprenticeship? Two year degree, four year, master's? Should it be at a school with as much pragmatism and as little politics as possible? Does your current school meet those criteria?
I encourage your exploration of the spiritual value of work in your life. I love to see people ask these kinds of questions. I hope I can be of some service in your investigations.
May I recommend a few books that might help inspire your contemplations? They are all focused on the concept that only you can decide the meaning of your own life, but there are techniques that can bring those choices into focus so that you can see the heart of them.
Zen and the art of making a living, by Lawrence Boldt
Pathfinder, by Nicholas Lore
What color is your parachute,
and, The three boxes of life, both by Richard Nelson Bolles
You like to be hands-on with something directly practical for basic human needs, like food, transportation, materials, and shelter.
By the way, for a very comprehensive list of industries, check out NAICS at http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/naicod02.htm. This is the list used to keep track of government economic statistics, so you'll find a very comprehensive definition of almost all types of businesses here. This might help you narrow down, for example, which types of transportation most appeal to you. (I'd guess, for instance, that you might find freight trains more satisfying to your interests than luxury charter jets.)
Has someone told you that the types of industries that resonate with you are somehow lower in some moral scale of ethical worth or respectability? Do you believe that? Would it make any difference to the judges that some of the richest people in the history of humanity made their wealth collecting flammable sludge from underground (Getty), from tools to help others collect this sludge (Hughes), from an invention intended to reduce the drudgery of the farm (Ford, who originally aspired to make tractors), and from putting metal pieces on the ground so stuff could roll on top of them (Carnegie, who funded half the nation's public libraries)? Would it make a difference to them to know that Bill Gates got his start in business with equipment for a city to count how many cars drove over a rubber hose on the road?
Has someone told you that using your hands, expressing the Creator's love for others through your body's activity, is lower in value than intellectual organization of ideas? Do you believe that?
Now, consider the value of science in those occupations. Would it help a steel worker to understand metallurgy? Would it help a transportation system worker to know calculus when they build a schedule or pack materials? Would it help a food worker to know biochemistry? If you were to make your highest contribution as you see it, would that technical education help you serve with greater depth of understanding, so your hands could do more to help the lives of others?
If this kind of education is relevant, could you get reasonable work without it and then afford to go back to school? Or are your chances of a good living better if you have more schooling before starting your career? If formal training would help you learn these things, should it be a practical apprenticeship? Two year degree, four year, master's? Should it be at a school with as much pragmatism and as little politics as possible? Does your current school meet those criteria?