Livelihood

“I find people for jobs, not jobs for people.”

My day job is search. Some refer to us as “headhunters” which seems a bit primitive, and limiting. In my work to find the right person for a particular role, I consider the whole person, not just their knowledge and experience. Will they want to live in this location? Will they fit within the culture of the organization? Will they be happy and successful?

I hadn’t considered before how much my work affects others’ livelihood. It is a big question for all of us. What do I want to be?? And it doesn’t seem to end for most of us. This searching for livelihood goes on in all life stages and doesn’t start and end with vocation. We all seek purpose, worth, contribution, legacy. I am fortunate that I can balance my paid work with creative work– writing, home-keeping, mothering, volunteerism.

My writing friend Nancy Nordenson in her book Finding Livelihood: A Progress of Work and Leisure probes these questions we have about work. She has recently published the second edition through Metaxu Press.

“It is a book for when the future has arrived. It is not about choosing a career path but about making your way on a path that you have either chosen or been given.”

from Finding Livelihood by Nancy J. Nordenson

I would urge you at whatever stage you find yourself in career, vocation, retirement to dig in to these questions that Nancy has so thoughtfully shared and examined in her own life of work. And keep asking the question, “What is my life’s work?”