Meaning: this way
Posted by Kris on December 8th, 2007
I suppose that I only seek meaningful work. That is a simple answer. It always is.
To describe working at a traditional engineering firm, you may hear me talk negatively of the type of work. Privatized research, closed-source for reasons of competition, etc. This can be meaningful, but there are more meaningful ways to provide value to the world. This is where my past experiences and future wishes combine with my decision on graduate school and ultimately a career.
Yes, this is me further breaking down the “do what you love” cliche when approaching life, but I always overthink things anyway, so allow me.
When in a sixty-minute lecture at a small university, I remember the speaker saying that if you wanted to be the absolute best and top in your field, you should follow these steps: some were regarding your productivity: like waking up at 5 and being done with your work for the day at 9 or 10 am. Other tips were regarding being a renaissance man, a jack of all trades who knows a little about a lot. I also remember a picture I took in Maryland, when it was raining on me as I was walking back from a bowling alley, and a sunset appeared which contained every color in front of me that I have ever laid eyes on in my time on Earth.
I also remember a book that I read 8 years ago, called Essays by Francis Bacon, and how I loved his simple yet revealing and provoking style of writings from the late 1500s and early 1600s. I remember how some ways that he saw life by relationships or finances were mind-expanding, while others I loved to challenge. I also recall a lecture from one of my math professors, in which he stated that on that day in class, we were going to learn a method in differential equations that would finally and fully utilize something that I had been doing since grade 6: using the quadratic equation. Finally, a few years ago, I remember contributing to one of the open-source linux distributions by posting a version bump of a tiny library on the changelog so that the developers could update the repositories: I still run into that changelog every now and then when Googling my name.
Now, the common denominator behind all of these memories? First, let me say how I don’t think that I remember my past like most other people do. In fact, we all certainly have a method or way, as abstract or straight-forward as it may be, to remember our own experiences and life. But through this skewed method that I remember things, I can say that the primary thing that links together every drop of inspiration that I have come across or every muscle that I have moved - is meaning.
Meaning in a conversation. Meaning in having a smoke as the sun rises over the 70 foot pine trees and you wait for the rays to warm your freezing torso. Meaning hitting you in the face as soon as you wake up. For me, meaning comes by many routes, and I look for more and more routes for it to be able to get to me. The meaning is all around me. I just work on venues that invite it in, and work to push away any entity, person, or culture that would try to keep that meaning from getting to me.
And ultimately, letting me share it with others.
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