Work That Is Worthy

reprinted with permission (Summer/Fall 2000)
Laurie Mattila, M.S.Ed., Career Counselor

I’ve been thinking more about work that is worthy: worthy of the worker and of being done. Worthy is a word that goes deeper than worthwhile or even meaningful. It speaks to a basic dignity that could be inherent in most work, although too often it seems lacking because of the particular way we view work and workers. I feel cheated because I know that the exchange of money - and precisely how much money - frequently determines the worth of the work and also the worker.

We overlook the person making a contribution and fail to see the contribution being offered. We don’t take time to absorb the joy or sorrow work brings, the problems it solves or creates, the way it protects or destroys, how it beautifies or neglects, all that it simplifies or complicates.

On the other hand, we observe and easily make judgments without even noticing that we are judging. In our culture what costs more must be worth more, or somehow better or at least more desirable. This is true of goods and services, and unfortunately people. I was reminded of this as I read letters to the editor earlier this summer during the hotel worker’s strike in Minneapolis. Several disheartening writers pointed to the minimal worth of the work performed by “unskilled” and “uneducated” hotel employees, thereby justifying sinfully low hourly wages. What made matters worse was the prescriptive judgment for an entire group of people: take some initiative, learn some skills, get a better job and make a life. When the worth of these workers and their work is minimized, everyone suffers.

Consider the amazing variety of work. In one recent day my own ranged from career counseling to grocery shopping, from writing to laundering, and then from teaching to hauling out trash. There’s more too: a trip to the compost site, neatening, pondering, meal preparation, record keeping, a bit of gardening, making phone calls, scooping out the litter box and always the miscellaneous I can never remember. What about your list? Give it a few minutes of thought. Although it’ll be different, it will be a fascinating and eclectic mix of contributions. Some paid, some not. Some loved, some liked and some barely tolerated.

On the surface it often appears that paid work is more worthy than unpaid work, or that generously paid work is more worthy than minimally paid work, or some people’s work is more worthy than other people’s work. Here’s where we need careful rethinking.

I believe worthy work connects each of us to vital life forces and allows us to grow beyond the limits of our imaginations. Worthy work multiplies the creative energies of the universe for all living things, including our planet earth. It is transforming; it also heals.

As we go about our days moving from one activity to another, keep in mind, our worth does not fluctuate like shares of stock on a financial exchange. Our worth isn’t what we do, how much we do it, how well we do it, or what we are paid. Or not paid. It is something else entirely - something intangible, and deep within, something that can’t be cheaply manipulated. One contribution does not make us more worthy than another. All contributions matter, IF they help to make the world a kinder, gentler, safer, truer place. And so does the spirit in which we offer and receive them. How do we honor all workers and their work? How do we make work worthy? Before you pick up the questions, or before you drop them, listen to the last line and the invitation from Marge Piercy’s poem The art of blessing the day: “If you can’t bless it, get ready to make it new.”