The Art of Work
A lived experience on work as identity.
Rex and Miss Helen 2025
Both of our children attended Montessori School when they were younger. When people hear about a child led education often their first thoughts center on zero boundaries with children making up their own bedtimes and eating whatever they want. However, when done right, I am here to tell you that is FAR from the case. You can learn more about the tenets of Montessori here (and see sweet little Rex age 18 months). The most impactful part about a Montessori classroom is that if you are invited in you observe nearly 30 toddlers all wearing thick underwear (part of toilet training), mostly silent either observing each other “work” or at work themselves. Montessori children do not play, they proudly work. Maria Montessori recognized early on the coalescence of work and identity, and how they shape each other. Montessori children take pride in their work, be it cutting hardboiled eggs, painting, or putting a book away properly. I cannot tell you how many times Hobie and Rex came home telling us with pride about their work that day.
As they have grown I realize the importance of those early years, and how their passions extend beyond task or interest. Hobie is not just passionate about History (which he loves), he is passionate about the work he does within that subject area. It feels important. Somewhere along the way we lose that though don’t we? At some point school work stops feeling important and feels like just another thing we “have” to do. I suspect it has something to do with how we view the work and its ability to shape our being and the world around us.
If we’re not careful the perspective of work as “just something we have to do” permeates into every thread of our adult lives, and life becomes a series of pointless checklists. But what if it could be different? What if we viewed even the most menial of tasks as part of our contribution to the world?
It’s perhaps an oversimplification to view cooking as a contribution to the world, but for the purposes of diving deep let’s follow this little thought experiment. What if cooking dinner after long day at the office was somehow viewed as a global contribution? Here’s the story: My husband cooks me breakfast every single morning. 3 eggs, 1 egg white, greens, toast with homemade apple butter, and berries. It is my FAVORITE part of the day. Most mornings I take the plate to work with me, where I get to parade through my office plate in hand listening to everyone comment about my beautiful meal and how lucky I am. I smile knowing this part of my day is so very far from luck. It’s work.
You see, Jorge cooking breakfast for his family every morning is an intentional act of letting us know how important we are to him, that getting our day started with full, healthy bellies matters, that how we show up in the world everyday matters. That is “the work,” how our lived experiences contribute (or not), and have the the power to directly impact our world.
I challenge you to reframe this thing we call, “work.” What would happen if your work directly impacted the lives of those around you? Doesn’t it already? So with that in mind, it would seem that we have a responsibility to contribute positively to our world, that is our work. So let’s get to it.
