Meaning from work's dignity & continuity

“Dignity of work is the philosophy that all jobs are equal, and no occupation
is considered superior. Whether a job requires physical labor or intellectual
labor, every job carries dignity. A person’s dignity and honor are not derived
from accomplishments or achievements, but rather by the transformation that 
occurs by doing a job well and with great care. This transformation is more 
important than any object or idea produced." - from Laborem Exercens, 1981 
(“Through Work”), The Vatican        

Nonlinear workdays have defined my career since I left the UK and Ireland (I worked in these countries for the first two years of my post-university working career) and once I began my US brewery career in 1985, that's when my nonlinearity days commenced. Nights, weekends, holidays. Whatever it takes, you do it. Or at least you try. ?The continuity. Sound familiar? Sometimes I really can’t ‘do it’ but we can be there to support those overcoming the challenge, repairing the system that is offline or broken….and learning from their hard work trying to accomplish the task. ?I start almost every work day having planned out about 80% of it the evening before (the other 20% falls into place…always), and it’s the unexpected things (breakdowns of equipment and systems) that generally cause me to stay an extra few (or many…) hours being with and seeing those addressing the problem at work.

I have worked on many Christmas eves in the world of brewing, yet 2022’s was the first time I did so with the plant running (which isn’t a brewery!) and with team-members working their shifts. Such a difference from being the only person walking the office hall or going through a mostly-silent plant.

At the end of the day, for me it?is our work that gives our lives direction and meaning….and with these a quiet dignity and purpose. Rudyard Kipling’s framing of the joy of industriousness is found in Jabez and Jesse, who choose to bring into a healthy and groomed and workman-like form what they are facing: a lengthy and long-abandoned hedge-row in the English countryside; they expend a couple of solid hours working it with their tools to get an understanding of the time it will require so they can quote the farmer their cost for the needed work to be performed:

https://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/DiversityOfCreatures/friendlybrook.html

These two characters created by Kipling knew the love for work that was Kipling's. I value that tremendously and it ever inspires me. My parents lived those values… sadly missing vacations, my university graduation ceremonies, yet my father would leave home at 5:00 every morning to make rounds and see his patients at three hospitals before his ‘real’ day started, but I learned from him how to enjoy the days off (after his patients rounds). And my mother would work all day, then go attend her MBA classes, and come home and do more work while I was in high school. I think their version of a mental health day was simply to dig more into work. Their work and dedication to accomplishing it inspired their children. It was from their model that I chose to do my MSc in electrical engineering at nights despite working 60 hours a week at the brewery in Wilkes-Barre. Focus. Dignity. I could not be more fortunate than being collected at school in 6th-grade and doing homework in the basement of her Law Library while my mom was studying Torts and Constitutional Law during her years at Law school.

I recognize that my former incredible boss, Erin, gave me a wonderful and amazing break by having me working from home for over two years (including covid months), so I would work at the Montreal brewery when needed, or at the Louisiana brewery when needed, and?then there were occasional and incredible meetings in New York City or Toronto...and then my in-residence work in Jamaica where I was tasked to develop a novel process and that consumed seven months. And then 18 months of consult work after that role allowed me to be at home for days at a time. Today my work is a not-difficult 33-mile trek from the hacienda.

I can’t imagine what work adventures are ahead of me, and I hope my health remains so I can meet them for another decade. I am grateful for the focus, the continuity, and for the wonder, and dignity.