An idea is emerging for meeting needs with integrity.
Before this idea, I want to address another side of work and material needs: destiny
The drive to meet physical needs, through income or else, leads us towards our becoming. Necessity shapes us through what it asks of us.
In Nelson (where I live), some people quickly find what they need - housing, a job, whatever. Others never do, and eventually leave. This happens regardless of their capacity to meet material needs in other places. Some Nelsonites recognize that Nelson has a mind of its own. It takes some in and spits out others. Some higher force seems to direct the destiny of this place, making it easy for some and incredibly difficult for others.
This happens in other ways as well. I need only think about meeting Heather (my partner), to recognize how the material world has shaped my life. If I was not poor, at my mom's house in Toronto, would we have ever met? If I hadn't left the farm, to come home and audition for commercials, would we have ever met? I came home, got a commercial, met Heather and we had a baby. The commercial paid my part of our first two years together, allowing me to be at home through the pregnancy and when Willow was born. There is no question that our financial decisions played a part in orchestrating this masterpiece.
There was a comment following the last post, that sometimes money work leads to valuable relationships with co-workers and the people we serve. This is yet another illustration of how the material world plays a part in weaving us all together just so.
As I delve deeper into freedom in work, I remember this aspect of destiny. We participate consciously in weaving our lives, but another part occurs beyond perception. If I feel called towards something, but override it for financial/material reasons, what is lost? what is gained? What magical strings of destiny are cut or woven so that I can pay rent and buy groceries?
How can we develop a culture of freedom in work which gives agency to the individual's weaving their destiny while recognizing the Spirits of Destiny weaving the other side.
