What To Do About Doing

“So, what do you do?…” people I meet for the first time, habitually and politely, ask me.

And I launch into my explanation of what it is I do for a living – (other than breathe the air and consume the energy along with all those things that sustain living). And after the blank stare, the courteous smile and the hesitant guttural sound I usually get in response to my answer, it is my turn to smile and, depending on the circumstance, launch into the explanation of what it is I am passionate about – and naturally to me, I also do for a living.

And then, rather recently and with much delay (where is all the time to read everything really going?..) I reviewed Daily Beast’s Cheat Sheet on “gigonomics.”  I half-agree/disagree with Tina Brown who coined the term of the gig economy. While the recession did create the new employment phenomenon of people doing many “gigs” to get by, necessity, brink of bankruptcy and the overall weak economy are not the only reasons people do their own kind of jobs, without bosses, fixed incomes and employer subsidized health plans.

Whatever happens, we are all our own life-masters marching to our very own heart and mind- beat, in spite of the “noise” and interference by others. Even when the choice we make is to do something other than what we want at that particular moment, the choice is still ours to make.  And for some of us, meaning and significance –  will always feature strongly in our choices and what we actually do for a living.

Addendum: Coaching – executive and leadership kind – is the kind of work that brings on the blank stares and the courteous smile from a lot of people. If you don’t know, you can read about what it is here but this is probably -definitely- not enough.