Value, Love, and Work.

Two Kinds Of Value

In his 2002 Dartmouth Commencement Address, Fred Rogers taps into the idea that we are all incredibly special, and the things that make us so go beyond what we can see or touch.

How does that specialness manifest?

It isn’t celebrity or fortune. It manifests as love. Not necessarily love given or received, but the worthiness of all of us to be loved.

As he puts it: “You don’t ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you.”

This speaks to one kind of value: our intrinsic value as human beings.

But there’s another kind of value. The value that others assign to us not because of who we are at our core, but because of the work we do.

Think of your favorite musician or artist. You probably don’t know them personally and they probably don’t know you, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that what they create has a very real impact on your life.

They have shown up in service to you and you assign them value because of that.

It’s a trap to conflate the two types of value. We must make the distinction between the value of our service and the value of ourself.

People won’t automatically spend their precious time and energy engaging with the work you do—you have to earn that opportunity.

On the flip side, if you’ve just had a project go down in flames, that doesn’t make you a failure.

Your Work

While I understand the sentiment of self-help quotes like “You are not your work.”, I think it’s problematic to completely dissociate ourselves from our work.

Case in point: You are not your friends, but the company you keep has a huge impact on your life. Best to choose your friends wisely.

When I say work I’m not talking about a specific job, but about the attitude, energy, and intention we carry into any given project. The job we have isn’t directly in our control, how we approach our work is.

You can have what most people consider to be a menial job (I don’t think there is such a thing), and still do great work.

The connective power of our work is what gives it meaning beyond ourselves. If we have no personal connection to our work, it seems absurd to expect other people to connect with it.

So while I hope you find value in being you and having the people around you love you just as you are, I’d also love to see you engage deeply with your work and create something inspired.