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Work This week I participated in a dialogue with a friend who's been out or work for almost a year. He's talented as a writer, does project design and training, but he's almost 50, and suitable work has eluded him. In his own words, "There's a sense that older workers are immigrants in a youth-oriented economy. I suspect that many perceived barriers to proper entry into the labor market are shared by both groups." Richard is saying that young and old alike suffer from a youth based culture. The pressure to arrive early at high points in a career stress out the young and, as in Richard's case, leave the older among us disenfranchised from the work place. The workplace is, after all, a microcosm of our cultural views and values. Not only does it demonstrate our ageism, but also, in Richard's experience, (he's English) an attitude requiring conformity that discounts the creative person, not native born. "There's a cultural bias here - a significant feeling among American companies that outsiders must re-shape themselves in order to fit in. Other perspectives may be given lip service, but are not sought after or really valued." Unfortunately, this is not just Richard's isolated experience, and the ring of truth here is disturbing. In an age of rapid change and globalization, it has become necessary to reevaluate and redefine how we work and for whom. Work is a way to discover and exercise our skills and talents. It is often a test of our mettle and the challenge by which we define ourselves. It takes up most of our vital years and can be a source of great satisfaction or of enormous frustration and loss of self-esteem. Next to significant primary relationships, it marks our lives profoundly. Finding the right work demands self-knowledge, in much the same way as finding an appropriate mate does. Too often, in this time, to be successful in the work place means that family life or personal issues must come second. Have you noticed that people work more hours in this generation than in their parent's time? There is a disconnect between work and the rest of life. Making a living is too often is a compromise with the meaningless and the dull. The essential question - how can I use my talents and make a living, while doing the community some good - has gotten lost. We witness here another sign of our culture with a disappearing center, like a large body with a diminishing soul. The work place needs to be about people, the employees and the society at large. The trend toward awareness of social issues and environmental needs is a good sign. People young and older must be allowed to find their value in the work place. Business is the largest institution in our society; the cause of many of its problems and perhaps the best source for solutions. The cry is for enlightenment. David Whyte writes, in The Heart Aroused, "Releasing ourselves from the need to keep ourselves hidden, we can begin to bring … neglected sides [of ourselves] into the workplace, to entertain the possibility that there is an integral wholeness to all the seemingly antagonistic and opposing sides of ourselves, a possibility that we may not have to be "fixed" or amended before we can serve ourselves or the company…" Nurturing the soul of corporate America means allowing for human variance, people young and older, from diverse backgrounds and experience, complete persons, not diminished by conformity. We need to stop sacrificing our souls on the altar of some organization's bottom line. Appreciation and acknowledgement to Jack Whelan and his comprehensive article, American Soul, published:April-July 1999 Ions Noetic Sciences Review. Elaine Z Mosher PhD The cases in point which appear in this column do not represent any particular individual or couple, but are a composite representation of people with relevant life issues. Similarities with actual people are coincidental. ©1999 Elaine Mosher Cases in Point: Archive Home || Contact Background ||  Fee Schedule Types of Consultation ||  Confidentiality Approach

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