The failure to find the right job or to enjoy the one you have creates a special kind of depression.
…An opus is the lifelong process of getting life together and becoming a real person, and it is no coincidence that the word is also used for a musical comopsition or an artist’s total production. You are also a work of art–alchemists usually referred to the opus as the Work, but they also called it the Art. You are the artistic designer of your own life, and it is the most important work you will ever do. You will produce things that will make you proud–happy children, a good huome, a well-functioning society, and maybe even some decent art. You will become a unique person. Nothing is more beautiful or more valuable. but if that potential goes unrealized, you may despaire about life in general.
— Thomas Moore, in A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do (2008)
I spotted this on the “new books” shelf at the Honnold/Mudd library at the Claremont Colleges. I hope that at least a few students pick this book up and take this message to heart. Better yet, I hope that the Claremont Colleges’ career advisors pick this book up and spread its message far and wide.
