#finding livelihood

[onwork]

The planner has made me aware of how much of my time gets eaten up by paid writing tasks — as opposed to the ones I feel passionate about but that won’t necessarily lead to much income. Quotes on passion and happiness grace the pages of my new planner, suggesting strongly that I should prioritize what I love above all else. If these projects mattered to me, my planner lectures, I would carve out the time. Mostly the quotes just wear on my nerves. And none of them explain how my passion will pay for daycare. Strange.

Kelly J. Baker, “The Flaws of ‘Do What You Love;” at Chronicle Vitae

Read the rest of her essay here.

[onwork]

Finding Livelihood is not at all common, it is beyond uncommon. It is not just good. It is nothing short of extraordinary and I doubt if you have ever read a book quite like it. It is wise, thoughtful, literary, poetic, full of stories - stories that are often exceptionally mundane but made exceptionally meaningful by Nancy Nordenson's extraordinary prose.

Byron Borger, Hearts & Minds Books; Booknotes Column – Invisibles: Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of the Workplace (David Zweig) AND Finding Livelihood: A Progress of Work and Leisure (Nancy Nordenson)

[onwork]

Listen to a conversation about my new book, Finding Livelihood. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation:

“At that time [of my husband’s job loss] and the time that followed, I read much of what other people had to say about work and started to feel like we were the only ones wrestling with it, the only ones whose working lives didn't conform to the standards set forth by the experts. I felt like work is big and hard, even in the best of circumstances, yet the messages from these other sources suggest that, oh you’d only apply these principles it would be easier, or if your husband would take a quiz to find what his perfect job might be then that would be taken care of. These things didn’t seem to meet a need I had at the time. I think that there's a lot of good in the books that are out there now about work, and about work and faith, but there's not a lot of human companionship in those books.”