Lavender,

The loathing you speak of is very common these days. I think all of us feel it at some point. I know I have.

The terms "career burnout" and "mid-life crisis" are relatively new expressions, however (remember now, an "old fart" is working with a slightly different time-line.) Anyway, these "new words" appear to be the parents of another timely phrase...."pursuing one's passion." I wonder about this concept....lately it kind of haunts me.

Previous to these plethoric times....for thousands and thousands of years, in fact, people worked for a very specific reason....to provide for others. Their motive was not altruistic, however....it was born out of necessity. People "had" to work for "the group." The tribe, the clan, the farm, the family...was all that mattered. The focus was not "what kind of work?"... the focus was always "why do we work?"... and the answer was pretty obvious. Consider the word "PROVIDER." It literally means..."one who contributes to the welfare of others."

Perhaps "pursuing one's passion" is a classic example of getting the cart in front of the horse. Maybe, in these modern times, these times of extreme abundance, it would be good to re-examine our definition of "passion."

Perhaps we could somehow recall an old-fashion notion.....that the gift of having a job is the potential contribution we can all make to "others." Maybe that notion could add true meaning and significance to our difficult and often repetitive work, and that understanding would help us to shift our thoughts to the more important question of "why we work?"

If we could all be a little more focused on "maximizing our contribution," then maybe "passion" would become the natural bi-product of that meaningful work.

Old Fart