SERVING THE WORK

While reading the editorial page of the Friday, April 29 issue of The Dayton Daily News, the headline of David Brooks’ column caught my eye. It referenced Ernest Hemingway. I started reading.

The Hemingway references accurately captured the man as I understand him but what really struck me was Mr. Brooks’ reference to a comment he credited to Dorothy Sayers. She once wrote that while it might be politically correct to state that one does one’s work to serve the community (I am paraphrasing), that is actually a falsehood. Her argument is that if you do any type of work to serve the community, that work becomes untrue, because in essence you are doing it to seek approval. Sayers notes that if you concentrate on serving the work rather than the community, you end up serving the community even more.

The self-consciousness disappears when you do this. Concentrate on the work fully and completely and to the best of your ability, and by doing so, you are serving the larger community. It becomes truly, honest work. Don’t make work simply to accumulate accolades.

Thank you Mr. Brooks for bringing this to my attention, and thank you Ms. Sayers for your perceptive observation.

I plan to keep this in mind as I go to the studio. I will dispense with “how am I doing” and simply get on, serving the work.