Good work.
good work.
Something that we all want to do, right? Something that we all want to be told too, if we are truly honest. But what is good work, when is work considered to be good? Why is good work so rare, and why am I using work as a noun?
It's something humans do...
One thing we all have in common, no matter race or religion, is that we work and we build. This is something that humans do, something we have always done, and something we will continue to do long after everyone has been fed and housed. Wherever we land, we build, we organise and re-organise. We have this power to create, to tend and till so to speak.
Artists, in particularly, talk about their art is a peculiar way. They'll refer to their work, short for artwork I suppose, but it is something that sits separate from them, some-thing that they have created to be viewed, critiqued, used, consumed. And in a way we all create work, or we all should create work. Most of us just work, and it is slowly but surely killing us, but when we create, we touch on the essence of what it means to be human.
Now to be sure, not all work is good work (especially in art), much of the work is just plain bad, and bad for us, much of what humanity has created is also killing us, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Good work resonates, it originates from a different place, and good work marches on its own legs.
Artists, in particularly, talk about their art is a peculiar way. They'll refer to their work, short for artwork I suppose, but it is something that sits separate from them, some-thing that they have created to be viewed, critiqued, used, consumed. And in a way we all create work, or we all should create work. Most of us just work, and it is slowly but surely killing us, but when we create, we touch on the essence of what it means to be human.
Now to be sure, not all work is good work (especially in art), much of the work is just plain bad, and bad for us, much of what humanity has created is also killing us, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Good work resonates, it originates from a different place, and good work marches on its own legs.
wHAT MAKES WORK GOOD?
In art there are three things that make a work good, these three things make any work, product, or service good, I believe:
1. Intent Good work has good intent. The motivation behind the work is honest, true, and authentic. Good work is not fake, and does not have ulterior motives and hidden agendas. Good work has authentic motive. |
"Learning to create your mind, is the very basis of learning to create the world" |
2. Place
Good work has place, it comes from a certain place, it belongs in a certain place and in a certain time. Good work is contextual, it draws from its surroundings to speaks to its surroundings. Good work is relevant, it resonates without it having to declare itself relevant. Good work speaks the vernacular, in fact it is in constant conversation with the world it lives in.
3. Movement
Good work moves the people engaging with it. It moves them forward, adding the necessities to or subtracting the excess from their lives, it does whatever they need to be more human, so they themselves can create good work.
Good work has place, it comes from a certain place, it belongs in a certain place and in a certain time. Good work is contextual, it draws from its surroundings to speaks to its surroundings. Good work is relevant, it resonates without it having to declare itself relevant. Good work speaks the vernacular, in fact it is in constant conversation with the world it lives in.
3. Movement
Good work moves the people engaging with it. It moves them forward, adding the necessities to or subtracting the excess from their lives, it does whatever they need to be more human, so they themselves can create good work.
Good work comes from a good place
Good work comes easier when it comes from a good place. Good means more than quality, or popularity, it also talks about ethically, morally, universally good.
The incarnation, the taking on of flesh, is what manifests when what has been breathed in, inspired, takes shape. To put it another way, garbage in : garbage out. Learning to make good work to the outside needs to start with doing good work on the inside, putting in the good stuff.
Good humans make good work*
The incarnation, the taking on of flesh, is what manifests when what has been breathed in, inspired, takes shape. To put it another way, garbage in : garbage out. Learning to make good work to the outside needs to start with doing good work on the inside, putting in the good stuff.
Good humans make good work*
"The perceived incongruity of inner and outer - the inauthenticity that we sense in others, and they in us - constantly undermines our morale, our relationships, and our capacity for good work"
Parker J Palmer
When we create from a authentic healthy self, we can add, when we create from a false, insecure, selfish self we break down.
What does it mean to be a good human then? You know them when you meet them, their presence fills a room, they are fully themselves, and they are that without apology, they are so much themselves that they appear more than themselves, larger than life. Good humans live in flow and let life move and flow through them, they engage pain, sorrow, chaos, with getting blocked and stuck in it. They know how to let go. These people experience life to the fullest, the move with the pains and the joys, grateful for both. And they create, they don't just work. They create products, objects, experiences, and works, that are true and resonate with, move, and add to humanity. They reorganize and transform. They liberate and irritate, they are prophets and poets declaring that there. is. more. This is what I want to explore, the work people do, and how they get there. And at the end how we rejoin our souls with our roles**. That is what this web, these blogs, and these talks about; making, creating, good work. pierre |
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*good humans also make up good companies by the way (that's a tip, write it down)
** Parker J Palmer
Create Good Work
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The Biggest Missed Opportunityin Innovation. An eye opening talk on innovation and where to find it.
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LEading without 'Authority'How to lead and create movement in a flat world.
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“I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.”
Maya Angelou |
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