Harry, I'm afraid you've missed the point of the embroidery story. For me, it points to the possibility of people working for the sake of working in the context of a spiritual milieu that generates connection of people to each other and to a larger whole. And, as Lee points out so eloquently, it can happen as easily when one is alone and when one is with others.
I would love it if we, here on this list, would exchange stories of experiences we have had that approach what Lee is talking about. I believe that we can create a society in which children grow up learning that work can have this quality. Of course I must always add the caveat that all of the institutions must be in balance in order for this to be the prevailing mode but that doesn't mean that we cannot start to work toward things like this. I have this experienceoften when I am writing. I haven't done much writing lately but it is an exhilarating experience that feels as though I'm connected to something enormous; Lee expressed it for me in a way I cannot. There is a sense of touching and being touched by something-the words that come to mind seem to me to beg for misunderstanding but they are the words that describe it for me- being touched by something cosmic and there is an overwhelming feeling of wholeness. I have had this experience when I've been washing dishes; it is a sense of serenity and again, connection; when I am making lunch for my family, with or without the help of my grandchildren. I have had this feeling while ironing clothes. And I have had this feeling while standing in front of a class and teaching with all of us being in the same place of connection. I have great difficulty finding the words; Lee does it so very well. I would so love to hear from list members who, I'm sure, could describe it in the various forms it takes for them. Then we might start to think about how, in the classroom, in the workplace, we might create an environment that 'allows' for this? 'encourages' this? I now have a strong urge to reread *Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience * by Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi (chick sent me high ee). I do remember that one of the qualities of this experience that he explores is that there is a loss of 'self-consciousness' which is totally different from a loss of the sense of self-in fact, it enhances the sense of self but self in the context of the larger whole. Help! There is so much to this and it is so important. Selma If we can understand that that is an experience that can be common and pervasive, we can work toward creating an environment which has that potential. Selma ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 2:32 AM Subject: Re: Fw: [Futurework] The world of work > Selma, > > Your story of the Tikopia reminded me of the free market, where people run > their own affairs rather than have the visible hand of the collective > pushing them in the "right" direction. > > As you may recall, my InterStudent High School Program is run like a > competitive free market. Cheating pervades the high schools. Practically > everyone cheats because it's the thing one does. So, what to do in this > highly competitive Program which places responsibility on the individual > student, and in which students find that the way to handle the competition > is to cooperate within their Groups? > > InterStudent encourages the students to lie, cheat and steal. We even give > higher grades for creative cheating. > > The result? InterStudent classrooms are certainly the only places in the > School where there is no cheating. If you were to cheat me, Selma, no-one > would condemn you. Rather, they would laugh at me for allowing myself to be > cheated. The result is a high rate of personal responsibility - so much so > that trying to cheat becomes a waste of time. > > So, the kids stop it. Cheating is so widespread in High Schools that we had > to take drastic action. > > Tikopia is a different matter. When people have grown up there is no need > to monitor them. They will cooperate and be friendly because it makes > sense. They don't need a Big Brother to keep them in line. > > The embroidery story was delightful! > > Harry > -------------------------------------------------------- > > Selma wrote: > > >I sent this excerpt from the Dorothy Lee book "Freedom and Culture" last > >February in response to a discussion about 'who should clean the toilets' > >which discussion seems to be occurring again. > > > > > Lee has a chapter entitled 'The Joy of Work as Participation'. She writes > >of > > > having made a discovery while she was working on a Christmas present for > >one > > > of her children on Christmas Eve when it was very late, she was exhausted > > > and "I was working against time, wishing I were in bed." > > > > > > She also speaks of the conflicts she was experiencing at this time, trying > > > to balance her work as an anthropologist with her responsibilities to her > > > two children, her husband and her home. She felt guilty about neglecting > >her > > > professional work and needed to justify whatever she did for the family; > > > making a blanket for the doll crib of her 3-year-old daughter seemed > > > justifiable because she couldn't afford to buy it. > > > > > > "As I sewed this Christmas Eve, I was suddenly astonished to discover that > >I > > > had started to add an entirely unpremeditated and unnecessary edging of > > > embroidery, and, simultaneously, I was aware of a deep enjoyment in what I > > > was doing. It was a feeling that had nothing to do with the pleasure the > > > work would give to my daughter on the morrow; it had nothing to do with a > > > sense of achievement, or of virtue in duty accomplished. And I knew that I > > > had never liked to embroider. There was no justification for my work; yet > >it > > > was the source of such a deep satisfaction, that the late hour and my > > > fatigue had ceased to exist for me. > > > > > > At this moment of discovery, I knew that I was experiencing what it meant > >to > > > be a social being, not merely Dorothy Lee, an individual; I knew that I > >had > > > truly become a mother, a wife, a neighbor, a teacher. I realized that > >some > > > boundary had disappeared, so that I was working in a social medium; that I > > > was not working for the future pleasure of a distant daughter, but rather > > > within a relationship unaffected by temporality or physical absence. What > > > gave meaning to my work was the medium in which I was working-the medium > >of > > > love, in a broad sense. So far, my rationalization and justification of my > > > work had obscured this meaning, had cut me off from my own social context. > > > It suddently became clear to me that it did not matter whether I was > > > scrubbing the kitchen floor or darning stockings or zipping up snowsuits; > > > these all had meaning, not in themselves, but in terms of the situation of > > > which they were a part. They contained social value because they > >implemented > > > the value of the social situation. > > > > > > This was a tremendous discovery for me, illuminating in a flash my > > > experience and my thinking. My mind went immediately to the Tikopia, about > > > whom I had been reading, and I said to myself, 'This is the way the > >Tikopia > > > work.' I had been puzzled about the motivating forces in the life of the > > > Tikopia. These were people who were without organized leadership in work, > > > yet who carried out large undertakings. And without any authority to > >impose > > > legislation and mete out punishment, the business of the village was > >carried > > > out and law and order were maintained. Raymond Firth, the ethnographer, > > > answering the unspoken quesitons of western readers, spoke of obligations, > > > duty, fear of adverse opinion, as motivations. I did not like his choice > >of > > > words, because he spoke of the obligation to perform unpleasant tasks, for > > > example, and yet the situations he described brimmed with joy. Now I saw > > > that the Tikopia did not need external incentives. > > > > > > This was all very well, but when I came to examine my discovery, I could > >not > > > explain it in any rational or acceptable way. My society did not structure > > > working situations as occasions which contained their own satisfaction; > >and > > > it assumed the existence of aggregates or collections of indiividuals, > >not > > > of a social continuum. I had learned to believe in the existence of a > > > distinct self, relating itself externally to work as a means to an end, > >with > > > external incentives and external rewards. yet it was obvious that if I got > > > satsisfaction from participating in a situation, there must be some > >medium, > > > some continuum, within which this participation can take place, If my > >family > > > and I were aspects of one whole; there must be some positive apprehension > >of > > > a continuity which made me an aspect of my family, not a separate member; > >it > > > was not enough to say that my physical being and my sensory experience did > > > not in themselves prescribe the limits of the self." > > > > > > She goes on to explore the meaning of self among the Tikopia; I'll leave > > > that for another time. > > > > > > > > > I would just ask the members of this list if they have ever experienced > > > anything similar to what Lee describes as she was working on that blanket. > >I > > > know I have and I have felt it as a gift of enormous proportions; mostly, > >in > > > our society, it occurs in spite of the social and economic environment, > >not > > > because of it. But I strongly believe that it is possible to stucture a > > > society and to develop cultural values that make this kind of experience > > > possible and common for everyone. > > > > Selma, > > > > **************************************************** > Harry Pollard > Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles > Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 > Tel: (818) 352-4141 -- Fax: (818) 353-2242 > http://home.comcast.net/~haledward > **************************************************** > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.515 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 9/1/2003 > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
