In Mexico, there was something unique about the roadwork. The curbing is not laid out by machine, it's handmade. So there's little irregularities. That's why the eye is rested even by the curbing in Mexico. You see humanity in a chair. And you know seven thousand didn't come out in one day. It was made by some man's hand. There's artistry in that, and that's what makes mankind happier. You work out of necessity, but in your work, you gotta have a little artistry too.
The word vocation comes from the Latin vocationem, literally "a calling, a being called." Over time, for this reason or that, calling has been transmuted into: work, job, or career, and is where many of us will spend the majority of our prime years. Be the work in service, technical fields, raising children, or other, it is where we derive much of our purpose and determines our life satisfaction, along with our financial fate. The mental and physical environments also play large roles in our health, so the stakes of finding one's calling could hardly be higher.
It is very possible to find work that is fulfilling -financially and personally- while avoiding the traps inherent in the prevailing model. Those ideas will be explored here in future chapters.
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resources
Charles Bukowski letter to John Martin
live/work barn: a conceptual business model