Let’s examine the term ‘job’. After hearing this generic
term, if your excitement has dipped to a level lower than the sea level of the
Dead Sea, I won’t blame you. We live in a world where a plethora of things are
vying to get our attention simultaneously and so we have created ready-made
opinions to get us out of the chaos.
So what is a job? I would say job is a way by which people
reach the fourth level in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, namely ‘Esteem’.
In other words, it is a way by which people who don’t have a
fixed purpose in life, make others believe that they are making significant
progress in their lives. And this make-believe is important because it gives
meaning to their lives, if any. Who wants to die a quiet life without honor,
right? And accumulation of modern equipment is the signaling mechanism that
there’s growth (no wonder the number of e-commerce sites is skyrocketing!).
Does this mean that people with a fixed purpose in life
(like those pursuing music /business/ /sports) are better? No, as long as they
too are concerned about the amassing of wealth. Some people won’t agree that
accumulation of money is a bad thing which I’ll discuss in another article. But
as far as people with a purpose are concerned, often passion sucks the
emptiness out of their lives and gives meaning to it. Money then takes a back
seat. Take any example and you will know what I mean.
For majority, job does opposite to what is conveyed by the
quote by Carl Gustav Jung, “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to
become”.
The irony is, when everyone around is so lost, it doesn't feel wrong to
be lost anymore.
