Obviously what you love is valuable.
It’s valuable because you love it.
It’s valuable to you because you love it.
But then:
Obviously if it’s valuable — you would love it.
Obviously if it’s valuable, truly valuable, then it is meaningful.
When you don’t love what you have — it’s because it is worthless and meaningless.
When you don’t love what you do — it’s because it is WORTHLESS and MEANINGLESS.
When it’s valuable and meaningful — you love it.
Imagine you were on an adventure — and now you found your place in the world.
You decided you were going to build a house there.
You cut trees and saw them into planks and raised foundation and then walls and then the roof and you put a furnace inside and built yourself a bed even, to sleep comfortably.
WOULD YOU HATE THAT “WORK”?
Or would you be excited?
Would you not be excited about every single small step you made, towards your vision, towards your dream
Would you not LOVE every step which brings you closer to your beloved dream?
Would not every step of the way be permeated with inspiration?
And would not every step be meaningful, would it not have concrete function — roof to shelter you from rain, furnace to keep you warm in winters…?
Would you not love that work?
Alas
Alas you are not building your dream house, in the dream place, for your dream-future.
You’re doing some stupid shit, some weird abstract shit that you don’t understand what it’s needed for, that doesn’t further your life, that doesn’t truly impact your life in any tangible way — but it gives you some fucking buck, some fucking diversion.
(And even if you are “building a house” — likely it’s not a true necessity, not a true calling — just what everyone else is doing — building a bigger prison)
See, modernity, globalisation, overabundance, has disconnected us from INDIVIDUAL REALITY — the reality of what we actually want, as individuals, what we actually need, as individuals, what we actually LOVE, as individuals.
We do some strange things to receive some strange paper which we can later trade for some other strange things.
It all becomes very confusing, why I do this, why I do that, why I want this, why I get that…
And when there is confusion — how can there be meaning? When you don’t know WHY you do something — when you don’t have a very clear idea of the meaning of your action — how can there be love?
World has became too large and too complicated, society has became too large and complicated… how are you — the monkey — to grasp it all? You can’t! Instead you just “wing it”. You go along with the rest. Mimicry is the default — once there’s even a shadow of a doubt in your heart.
And your heart is heavy with doubt
Now, this obviously doesn’t mean to NOT engage the world. The point is to UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU’RE DOING — so that it has MEANING — so that you know is has VALUE — and so that you LOVE it, and LOVE doing it.
This understanding is absolutely imperative
What’s the purpose of your work?
What’s the true significance of your work?
You get paid, that’s one.
You are cog in the wheel, that’s another.
What’s the significance of the wheel?
What is being produced?
How does it benefit the world?
Is this how you want to benefit the world?
And then again — how does it benefit you?
You get paid — now what?
What’s the benefit of that reward?
LOVE = VALUE and VALUE = LOVE
Doing something TRULY OF VALUE automatically means you LOVE IT (MAKES you love it)
Because VALUE is automatically LOVED
And CREATING what you LOVE is also a LOVABLE PROCESS – therefore the “dream job”
You must know what you’re doing — and it must have value — and THEN you will love it.
You must know what you’re doing — and it must have value — and THEN you will love it.
You would LOVE to build yourself a house, in the loveliest place you found, with thick walls and solid roof, to keep you and your family sheltered and warm
You would love to solve a truly nagging problem, for yourself, for the world — knowing that the solution, the innovation — will be benefiting you, AND the world, from now on and forever
You would obviously love to make your life better, tangibly better, clearly better, you would love to work on something that should deliver clear improvement, it would inspire you, it would fuel you, it would compel you
You would love to create something that will ever since fill your heart with joy and love — a great work, a great product, a great painting, a great book — and perhaps it would delight someone else’s heart too
You would love to make something tremendously well — fully understanding the value of high quality, the utility of what you are producing, and valuing that it will be durable, that it will serve others, that it will be a great tool, a beloved object, something to benefit someone else’s life and work — and it shall be loved, and you shall love making it
Conversely:
Doing something with TRUE LOVE, out of the truest passion of your heart — means it has value.
It obviously has value for you — since you’re the one loving it
But the world is an extension of human. Society is just a large number of individuals. If you’re loving it — someone is loving it.
And when you’re loving it — you can truly dedicate yourself to it. You have ALL the energy under the sun. There is absolutely no distraction. All your resources are focused. You go from working at 20% capacity, with listless, half-hearted efforts — up to 100% capacity: impassioned, engaged, spirited creativity
I don’t merely mean it notionally. When you’re really impassioned about something — REALLY IMPASSIONED — you will find a way to make it work for yourself.
It WON’T be cinematic, probably.
But the dichotomy of following one’s passion is nonsense.
When you love something — you just DO love it. And you DO DO it.
You may pay a terrible price for it — but you win your life in return. The choice is obvious. And you will keep finding ways to move it forward. INGENIOUS ways.
And you will get lucky. Eventually, very eventually.
With all that said though here’s the secret:
DO WHAT IS VALUABLE AND WHAT YOU LOVE
DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND IS VALUABLE
ALL THINGS MAKE AS VALUABLE AS POSSIBLE
ALL THINGS YOU TOUCH — TOUCH THEM WITH LOVE
Make it truly valuable – you will love it — AND will love doing it.
Truly love it — and you will make it valuable
Do what is valuable and what you love — and you have the meaning
AND value
AND love