The Work We're Designed To Do

Doctors. Lawyers. Executives. Engineers. Information technologists. Prestigious white-collared folks with money. Successful people. People that are role-models for our children. Consider the nature of their work. "Work with your head, not your hands!", we're advised. But look at what these "dream jobs" do to our bodies and to our spirits.

Our bodies are designed to be used. Lifting weight makes us stronger. Walking keeps our heart and lungs healthy. We're design to stay physically active throughout our lives. Sitting at a desk eight hours each day is bad for our bodies.

And what about our minds? Try doing some mindless, physical, repetitive work for an extended period, like digging a trench or pulling weeds, and notice how the mind enters a relaxed state of wandering. How the mind and the body begin to harmonize. The mind begins to notice the body as much as it notices the tasks being performed. It hears the sound of the shovel entering the soil, and also the sound of breathing. It feels the soreness of the hands, and also the pounding of the heart. The mind, the body, and the work become one. It's called being "in the zone", and it's a relaxed state without stress.

Now, leave that sort of physical labor behind for a moment, and let your imagination enter an office job. Read some emails. Attend a meeting. Solve a technical problem. Interact with your co-workers. Talk to your manager. And while you're doing all of that, sit in a chair in a sterile, air conditioned office. Are you even aware of your body?

There are good jobs and bad jobs. But which are which? That depends upon your values and the trade-offs you make between money and stress and health. One thing is for certain, our bodies aren't very good at office work, and our minds aren't very good at it either, considering the amount of stress it brings. Our minds and bodies are designed to garden, and gather food, and build simple structures using our hands. We don't like "bosses", but we appreciate helpers and wise friends with good advice. We like small undertakings that satisfy basic needs, like picking tomatoes when they are ripe. But unnecessary activities done just for the sake of money, like producing unnecessary consumer goods in a plastics factory, leaves us feeling empty.

We've come a long way from the 20-hour work week of our ancestors. And the path that we took was all about man-made objects. Well we've apparently succeeded because most of us now spend our days working to provide goods and services that are not really needed at all. They're unnecessary niceties. And having been on this path now for so many generations, we've all but forgotten the type of work that we were actually meant to do. And even worse, we continue to teach our children that mindless, physical, repetitive work is for losers. "Work with your head, not your hands!", we tell them, from our easy chair, while we watch too much TV, and eat too much pre-processed food, and wait and worry about tomorrow and how our day will go at work.