In recognition of Labor Day, here’s a little inspiration for you.  This is taken from Artful Work:  Awakening Joy, Meaning, and Commitment in the Workplace by Dick Richards.

The Credo of Artful Work

All work can be artful,
so I will be artful at work.

The reward for artful is in the doing,
so I will do my work artfully and feel rewarded.

The ambition of artful work is joy,
so I will seek joyful work.

All work is spiritual work,
so I will work to nurture my spirit.

To be artful, I must own my work processes,
so I will claim ownership.

Artful work requires use of the self,
so I will use myself — my whole self;
body, mind, feeling, and spirit –
in pursuit of centering consciousness.

As the artist creates the work,
the work creates the artist,
so I will acknowledge what is being created
and encounter what strives to be created.

It seems that for much of the last hundred years, the debate has continued about whether psychotherapy, in particular, and service-oriented businesses in general, are more science or art. In my mind, the problem with that is that it has been posed as either/or when in fact, they really are at their best when they are both/and.

What about you?  How do you think about and describe the work that you do?