What does it mean to pursue a calling? According to Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, it may mean ambiguity, uncertainty, and even suffering--but that's what makes it worthwhile. Drawing on over thirty years of research and concrete examples from history, fiction, and her own experience, she delves into the inherent complexities around the pursuit of a calling and the lie that meaning in life is as simple as following your bliss. Instead, the path to meaning is rocky and uncertain--and that is exactly what makes it worth following.
"This book challenges superficial ways people use the word calling, providing a revolutionary way to approach it, not as some glorified word but as a complicated, ambiguous, and even painful reality. Shallow renderings of calling in trendy self-help literature and religious circles ("follow your bliss"; "God has a plan for your life") greatly diminish the power of the word and are not only inadequate but sorely misleading, especially given the complexity of life and the reality that our callings always demand a great deal from us. Lofty expectations that we can (or must) find the perfectly fitting job, the one-and-only special life partner, the ideally balanced life, or the one-time summons from God are deceptive and destructive. Calling means so much more than seeking gladness, job success, or God's will. To truly grapple with calling, we must consider how it evolves amid the constraints of life. Drawing on stories from memoirs, novels, cultural figures, and everyday people, the book looks at six difficulties in early, middle, and late adulthood, from leaving paths untrodden (missed callings) and running into impediments (blocked callings) to having competing callings (conflicted callings) and failing in one or more area (fractured callings) to managing unwanted demands (unexpected callings) and giving up what we've done and loved (relinquished callings). By insisting that callings have benefits and burdens across adult life, the book hopes to make the idea of calling more useful and real for all those who aspire to live meaningful, purposeful lives. (246 words)"--
The American claim that we should love and be passionate about our job may sound uplifting, or at least, harmless, but Do What You Love exposes the tangible damages such rhetoric has leveled upon contemporary society. Virtue and capital have always been twins in the capitalist, industrialized West. Our ideas of what the “virtues” of pursuing success in capitalism have changed dramatically over time. In the past, we believed that work undertaken with an ethos of industriousness promised financial stability and basic comfort and security for our families. Now, our working life is conflated with the pursuit of pleasure. Fantastically successful—and popular—entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey command us. “You’ve got to love what you do,” Jobs tells an audience of college grads about to enter the workforce, while Winfrey exhorts her audience to “live your best life.” The promises made to today’s workers seem so much larger and nobler than those of previous generations. Why settle for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and a perfectly functional eight-year-old car when you can get rich becoming your “best” self and have a blast along the way? But workers today are doing more and more for less and less. This reality is frighteningly palpable in eroding paychecks and benefits, the rapid concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny few, and workers’ loss of control over their labor conditions. But where is the protest and anger from workers against a system that tells them to love their work and asks them to do it for less? While winner-take-all capitalism grows ever more ruthless, the rhetoric of passion for labor proliferates. In Do What You Love, Tokumitsu articulates and examines the sacrifices people make for a chance at loveable, self-actualizing, and, of course, wealth-generating work and the conditions facilitated by this pursuit. This book continues the conversation sparked by the author’s earlier Slate article and provides a devastating look at the state of modern America’s labor and workforce.
"This book aims to give women the frank, supportive advice they need to advance in their careers and to lead with excellence. Based on the author's fifteen years of senior leadership experience at three different colleges and her mentorship work with dozens of women, this book guides women through launching, building, and advancing an academic career"--
Now a new series on Peacock with Rainn Wilson, THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS is part travel memoir, part humor, and part twisted self-help guide that takes the viewer across the globe to investigate not what happiness is, but WHERE it is. Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Do citizens of Qatar, awash in petrodollars, find joy in all that cash? Is the King of Bhutan a visionary for his initiative to calculate Gross National Happiness? Why is Asheville, North Carolina so damn happy? In a unique mix of travel, psychology, science and humor, Eric Weiner answers those questions and many others, offering travelers of all moods some interesting new ideas for sunnier destinations and dispositions.
What really excites you? What gives your a sense of meaning and purpose in your life? Discover how these can guide you to a more fulfilling and profitable career and a more deeply satisfying lifestyle. This program for finding your right livelihood has already helped over 30,000 readers. Learn the power of your own inner calling.
The renowned master of mythology is at his warm, accessible, and brilliant best in this illustrated collection of thirteen lectures covering mythological development around the world.
In Speaking of Sin, Barbara Brown Taylor brings her fresh perspective to words that often cause us discomfort and have widely fallen into neglect: sin, damnation, repentance, penance, and salvation. In recovering this lost language in our worship and individual lives, she shows how we can take part in the divine work of redemption.
There are two paths in life: Should & Must. We arrive at this crossroads over and over again, and every day. And we get to choose. Starting out or starting over, making a career change or making a life change, the most life-affirming thing you can do is to honor the voice inside that says your have something special to give, and then heed the call and act. Many have traveled this road before. Here’s how you can, too. #choosemust An inspirational gift book for every recent graduate, every artist, every seeker, and every career change.
Who am I and where do I come to write this book? I feel it necessary to address all aspects of motherhood, so I decided to include both the sweetness and delight plus the shadow side of motherhood in this book. Some challenging life situations occur that are vital for us to consider, so I am including some disquieting statistics. Because many women (and men) have refrained from checking within themselves or making an examination on emotional, mental, physical and spiritual planes about having children, hardships have been created, both personally and planetary.
