Right Livelihood; or, I don't want to save the world

    On Sunday in our ILP class at Samadhi we had an interesting discussion that, for a while, touched on Right Livelihood.

    One of the things that came up in the group a few times (and no doubt comes up amongst your friends, or even in yourself) is the idea that one's job should be involved in "saving the world" somehow.  Or that one should align oneself to "save the world."  Or that work that doesn't seem to have a direct correlation with "saving the world" is unworthy of doing.

    I wonder... do sanitation workers "save the world?"  Do movie directors "save the world?" Does picking vegetables "save the world?"  (Yeah, yeah, I know... are they organic, right?)

    So, you know, I'm just fairly skeptical about the necessity of taking a job that "saves the world."  KW points out about Green that they always have to "save the world" whenever they do something -- nothing less really motivates them.  Recycling isn't just a service provided by your town that helps to keep landfills less filled -- it's "saving the world."  Raising your children properly isn't just what you should do as a parent -- it's your way of "saving the world."  Driving a hybrid isn't just you trying to make a branding statement about yourself and your choices -- it's "saving the world."

    Today as I was driving my non-hybrid car I saw a bumper sticker that read "I'm not saving the world -- I'm just helping a kid."  Amen.

    So, when I start my new job as a Windows developer in a couple of weeks, I just want to be clear with everyone: I'm not saving the world.  I don't want to.  I don't think it needs to be saved, really.  (And saved from what, exactly?)  I'm just pursuing right livelihood for me, not saving the world.  Perhaps I'll save a few CPU cycles with a clever algorithm, or save a user a little bit of time by creating useful code and user interfaces, but I just don't think saving the world is going to be on my performance review this go-round.  And I refuse to believe that following my passion is a less enlightened choice than being unhappy trying to do something that I perceive as "saving the world."  What on Earth was I put here for in this lifetime, anyway?

    To everyone who struggles with being caught between a career they might be passionate about on one hand, and a desire to "save the world" on the other, I bow and send you peace in this moment.  Choose your passion, follow your bliss, and shine for the world.  Save it by being aware, awake, and blissful.  Save it by being an example to others of what enlightened action-in-the-world looks like.  Save it by being the Tenth Oxherding Picture.

    But then again, like Ken Wilber and Thomas P.M. Barnett, I'm an optimist.  I believe that there is a Future Worth Creating, and that focusing on what's wrong all the time doesn't leave any mindspace or energy to move forward creatively.

    Is thinking about possible futures "saving the world?"  What if those futures involve greater economic and military connectivity amongst the world's countries, and an understanding of the inevitable forces that drive geopolitical strategy?  Could that possibly be called "saving the world?"  Even though I don't work for a non-profit?  Hmm....