Why work?

There are many reasons, of course. Money. To feel useful. To be part of something. To share skills, values, a vision. To feel valued, have status in society as a whole.

And when we are ‘out of work’ – that is, not being paid in some way for our daily efforts – how do we feel?

Often, less valued. Less useful. Invisible, even.

When my son was small and I was not ‘working’ for a while, someone asked me at a party what I did. ‘I’m looking after my little boy,’ I answered.

‘Oh, but what do you really do?’ was the response.

Not always, of course. Work in the community, voluntary work and caring for others at home can have great meaning and value to ourselves and for others.

But sometimes the lack of a defined role, rewarded by others financially, can make it feel as if we don’t exist in the eyes of society or others around us. Even if we are doing very necessary work such as childcare, eldercare or healing ourselves after illness or a crisis.

It can be easy to be defined by our paid work roles, and think less of ourselves when we lose them, or they are not what we think of as important in the eyes of others.

Which is why it’s so important to understand why we work – what makes it important to us. Not to anyone else. To us.

So that we can see how it contributes to our life. Not to define us as who we are.