David Whyte knows whereof he speaks when it comes to the meaning of “work.” He has been bringing poetry to the corporate world for decades, and challenging people to deepen their understanding and practice of the work they do.
Work is a very serious matter indeed. We freight our work with meaning and identity, and fight hard and long for some kind of purpose in our endeavours. Vocation can never be defined solely by the organization for which we currently work, though it should be the beneficiary of our best powers. Vocation is a moveable, often unspeakable frontier, between what we want for ourselves and what the world demands of us. It is this interior foundation married to the necessities of the outer world that make up a life’s work. Organizations need to understand this wellspring of human creativity in order to shape conversations that are invitational to an individual’s greater powers. The insights available to us through good poetry can provide a compelling vision, grant needed courage and stir the dormant imagination of individuals and organizations alike.
…………….~ David Whyte
David is all about the third frontier between you and the world, or what he calls the conversational nature of reality (http://davidwhyte.com/media.html).
Working Together
We shape our self
to fit this worldand by the world
are shaped again.The visible
and the invisibleworking together
in common cause,to produce
the miraculous.I am thinking of the way
the intangible airpassed at speed
round a shaped wingeasily
holds our weight.So may we, in this life
trustto those elements
we have yet to seeor imagine,
and look for the trueshape of our own self,
by forming it wellto the great
intangibles about us.– David Whyte (The House of Belonging)
He also has a deep and compassionate understanding of human nature, in general.
