There is a common format to many of the short essays I write for Field Notes. I begin with an illustration to highlight the principal ideas that provide the bones of the article. I elaborate on these ideas before I conclude with a few sentences that tie all of these thoughts together and link them to the title. It is a bit like one of Aesop's fables but without the anthropomorphizing.
As I think about how purpose and meaning contribute to living well, however, it seems to make more sense to start with the moral of the story: It is what you must do, not what you can do, that matters.
There is a way in which I typically talk about purpose and meaning in the context of my career as a city manager. It starts with an epiphany as I completed my bachelor's degree and follows a mostly predictable path from the past to the present. Once again, for this installment, it seems to make more sense to start closer to where I am right now than 40 years ago.
One of the things that happens after spending that much time as a city manager is that the International City/County Management Association recognizes you at its annual conference. In 2019, I traveled to Nashville and walked across the stage, shaking hands with the president of the association and hearing the applause of attendees. My colleagues were acknowledged for reaching other milestones, some of whom had careers of 45 years and 50 years duration. I found myself thinking about whether I wanted to work another 5 or 10 years to be similarly lauded.
A few months later, I attended my state association's winter institute. There, colleagues received awards for noteworthy contributions that had benefited their municipalities or that had assisted their colleagues. I was not among them and have never been similarly recognized during my career.
I did not expect any recognition. I take a realistic and humble view of my capabilities. There are colleagues whom I think of as masters of the craft of city management. I admire them for what they have accomplished and congratulate them without jealousy on the accolades they receive. I consider myself, though, to be a journeyman. I'm good at what I do but I am unlikely to set the world on fire even on my best days. There are places for people like me in the field of municipal administration and I am happy to occupy one. If I expect to get a plaque for this, however, I am sure to be disappointed.
It was in the context of these two gatherings that I came to a stark realization about what the future held for me as a full-time city manager: facing more of the same. Even though the work I did was important to the citizens of my community, and I enjoyed the challenge associated with it, walking across the stage again in 5 years was not a very good reason to keep doing it. In fact, playing that role just to add additional years to my total seemed like a terrible idea. Suddenly, being a city manager had lost its meaning for me. Not long after, I advised the governing body of the date at which I would be leaving city employment.
That decision meant I needed to rediscover purpose and meaning in my life. It was not the first time. One such exploration had led to my obtaining a Ph.D. Another followed my being forced to resign.
I had become a city manager because I wanted to make cities better places in which to live. That was my purpose, the thing that engaged me intellectually and got me out of bed in the morning. The source of meaning -- what provided significance and satisfaction -- was the variety of tasks associated with this career and the opportunity to be involved in public service.
The source for much of the purpose and meaning in my life has always, but not exclusively, come from work. Living a life of leisure, therefore, was not an option. I knew as well that I had an opportunity to create a better balance between work-for-pay and volunteer work. I still felt it was important to make cities better places in which to live and I believed there were ways to do so that were different than those I had heretofore pursued. Consulting seemed like a logical course as did accepting invitations to assist nonprofit organizations with which I was affiliated. I had more opportunities now for variety throughout my days and could expect to have a wider impact than was previously the case. I was no longer limited to thinking only in terms of public service. My knowledge, skills, and experience could be put to use in a wide range of areas.
Rediscovering purpose and meaning, for those interested in living well, should be thought of as an iterative process. Time should be devoted regularly to considering what one is best at and what one likes to do. In addition, I find it worthwhile, in any situation, to look for what needs to be done and how I can help.
This approach suits me because it fits my image of living well. Others will evaluate purpose and meaning from entirely different perspectives and will reach entirely different conclusions about what is the purpose of their lives and how they can find meaning.
It is for this reason that I used the photo of Vietnamese men making salt to illustrate this article. I love this image for the beauty and grace the photographer captured. In doing so, he has highlighted the intrinsic worth of all occupations. I imagine that the primary reason these men get out of bed in the morning is so they can provide food for the table. That purpose is no less valuable than mine. They might find meaning in the income they derive, how it contributes to the vitality of the community in which they reside, and how their work ensures that others have an ingredient essential to preserving and flavoring food. There might be a tedium to their labors that causes them to think about what else they might do. Still, they return day after day to make more salt. Perhaps they set aside a little of each day’s wages to provide other choices for their sons and daughters.
As with other aspects of the good life, rediscovering purpose and meaning should be kept simple. A good starting point is to remember that it is what I must do, not what I can do, that matters. The life one leads, then, will be its own reward. No applause is required.