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An interconnected life….
In this short piece by @RosabethKanter in HBR she bravely raises a broad range of issues around what is ‘sustainable’ work for employees. In the UK these headings have, in my experience, been gathered together under the ‘work/life balance’ discussion, but she broadens it out to discuss pay equity, spirituality and work etiquette.
The title of her piece is ‘Work, love, pray’ in a nod the Julia Roberts film and book by Elizabeth Gilbert ‘Eat, love, pray’ (I wouldn’t want to make comment on either the book or the film, neither of which have I seen or read – however I am aware the many film critics have been somewhat scathing of the film.) which I feel could sentimentalise the issue somewhat, given the gravitas of the issues she raises.
For me Kanter raises the most interesting question at the end, when she says “Clearly, the connections among working, praying, and loving are ripe for reinvention.” Indeed they are, and these are brave topics for a Harvard Business Professor, when the world of work likes to think of itself as situated in the ‘hard facts of reality’. But for the vast majority of people the connections between work, prayer and love are critically important, regardless of how they interpret those words.
Each of us come from different ‘traditions’ which inform how we interpret these words in different actions in our day-to-day lives, but for me it’s my colleague Simon Walker who has developed the most interesting approaches and language. Simon, unashamedly, comes from the Christian tradition and his book ‘The Undefended Life’ is a fantastic effort at making the connections which Kanter offers up for reinvention.
If anyone knows of other work from different positions or traditions, I’d love to know about them.
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Annette
November 29, 2011Jim, I happened on your blog when I typed in “interconnected lives” on google. I’m a Brit. Nine years ago, when I was made redundant, I decided to do contract work whilst exploring the interconnectedness of all things, based on a covenant I’d made with God some years earlier: discovering the interconnectedness and writing about the resulting evidence. I’m a Christian and also a big fan of Carl Jung. He used the term “synchronicity” of course to describe all this.
I practise this each and every day, letting my mind become open to it, being grateful when it shows up and using it to guide my life to ever deeper levels of meaning and love. My first book “An Ethiopian Odyssey” is about my search for former classmates inspired by a dream in 2000, in which I’d dreamt I’d returned to Addis to help provide water for the very poor. (I went to school there from 1962 – 1964). When I set off to accomplish this, I discovered how kind people were, and in 11 months, travelled 25,000 miles and found 2/3rds of my classmates!
On our true paths – and we all have our destinies – we frequently find that we’re only 1 or 2 people away from the people we need to find. I discovered this in pre-Facebook days. NOTHING is random!
The book was published in 2006 and sold in 21 countries, albeit small quantities. Half the royalties go to fund water projects in Ethiopia, via wateraid: http://www.wateraid.org
Of course, right now science is sceptical and religion has become, sadly, so very divisive. Yet humanity is so very connected and compassionate. I’m now completing my second book which demonstrates this even more, particularly from the standpoint of suffering.
I hope you find my website of interest. Thanks for your interesting post!