II. OCCUPATION AS A WAY TO ACTUALIZE AUTHENTIC PROJECTS

     Even tho most occupations have been established and maintained
for non-Authentic reasons, we might occasionally be able to pursue
our comprehensive Authentic projects within these inauthentic structures.

     Does our work enable us to pursue our ultimate concerns?
In considering the Authenticity of our jobs, we must avoid rationalization.
Here are a few questions we can ask ourselves to help distinguish
normal occupational motivations from the quest for greater Authenticity:
    What ultimate value am I striving toward in my job?
    Did I further this value in something I did on the job today?
    Do I focus my energy around this Authentic project-of-being
    when I am not on the job, that is, when I am not being paid?
    Do I sometimes find the official procedures of my work
    in conflict with my Authentic project?
    If I were assured of the same income even tho I never went to work,
    would I still pursue the same occupation
    because it is a good opportunity to actualize my Authentic project?
    If I were not under the direction of others or a job-description,
    how would I change my daily activities
    in order to focus my life more Authentically?

     In the middle section of this book, we explored several projects
—and the ways these projects might also earn money.
Obviously, the best of all possible worlds would permit us to
pursue our ultimate concerns and also be paid for it!
But will our economic system enable us to earn a living
by pursuing projects we regard as ultimately meaningful?

III. WORK AS AN OBSTACLE TO AUTHENTIC EXISTENCE
    AND THE OPTION OF VOLUNTARY POVERTY

     Even tho it would be ideal to combine occupation and Authenticity
—getting paid for pursuing purposes we believe are truly worth doing—
quite often we find our jobs at odds with our Authentic projects.
We might find ourselves so drained by the hours we spend working
that we lack the energy or time to pursue other meaningful activities.

     Because of this frequent conflict between Authenticity and occupation,
some of us have decided to accept voluntary poverty
in order to remain free to pursue our fundamental projects-of-being.

     Autobiographical illustration:
Ever since I retired from my first profession and sold my car in 1968,
I have earned and spent (on average) less than $2,000 a year.
I have earned almost all my income in activities
I would have pursued (and in many cases did pursue) without pay.

58  BECOMING MORE AUTHENTIC: THE POSITIVE SIDE OF EXISTENTIALISM by JAMES PARK

How to cite the above page from Becoming More Authentic

    Students and scholars are invited to quote
anything from the above page. 
Here is the proper form for the footnote or other reference: 

James Park  Becoming More Authentic:
The Positive Side of Existentialism
(Minneapolis, MN: Existential Books, 2007—5th edition)
p. 58  


    This page is taken from Chapter 14, "Authenticity and Occupation",
which has proved one of the most interesting and useful to readers,
almost all of whom have to balance the need to make a living
with their desires to become more Authentic.

    The page following this one explores the author's philosophy of
'voluntary poverty' or simplicity more fully.


Return to the table of contents for
Becoming More Authentic: The Positive Side of Existentialism.

Created September 11, 2008; revised 3-3-2017;

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James Leonard Park—Free Library