More Than Just a Playground

For a good five years or so I have been on some form of social networking site. I'm certainly not alone in this; millions and millions of people of all ages have a myspace, facebook, twitter, or some other page that they go on from time to time. I imagine there are all sorts of reasons people create these places for themselves, but I guess a big reason is that it can be fun. It's a big giant playground of sorts. This is not a bad thing to help break up a day. Even if you are just on here to say, "Whatup dude"...that's probably better than frying your brain to a 125th rerun of "Spongebob Squarepants" while eating a giant bag of doritos. Still, thinking about why I go on here as often as I do, and I'm sure others will agree, there has to be to going on here than just hanging out at the playground.

Many people have jobs that leave them unsatisfied. I'm being charitable when others may more accurately describe them as "dead end" jobs. Years ago some Christian authors wrote a book, "Your Work Matters to God." This book tried to help people realize that all work was of value to God, there was no difference between the so-called secular and the sacred, and people should do their honest jobs all to the "glory of God." To their credit the authors did a good job and I'm sure their thesis on the value of work was helpful to many. Perhaps some took a second look at their job and learned to be content at the job they found so dull and uninspiring. As for me though, I found only temporarily relief in that worldview and before long I was asking, "Can we be real?"

Most of us are at work at least 8 hours of our day or a third of our day. If we sleep 8 hours a day then half of our day is spent in the workplace. Our hours here shape us and mold us in many ways into the people we become to those who see us outside of work; family, friends, neighbors. Let's say you pick up trash, or work in retail, or some other mundane job...a question I ask is this. Would you be missed if you were to die tomorrow? I'm not speaking about your co-workers or people you have relationships with, but rather would your work be missed or would you just be replaced by someone else and everything would proceed without missing a beat?

See work needs to have meaning. Malcolm Gladwell in his laterst book, "Outliers" describes 3 elements that are vital for "meaningful work." One is a person need a reasonable amount of autonomy. Tim Conway and the rest of the cast of the "Carol Burnett Show" didn't have complete autonomy of the humor they could use on CBS, but certainly they were permitted enough freedom where they probably never even thought of restrictions. This was different for Lenny Bruce obviously who fought against censorship because he thought he had no chance of being funny without "pushing the envelope" so to speak. A second is creativity in work. People need variety in work and having a chance to put their own signature on their work. Even building something as simple as a holiday display at a retail store qualifies as doing something different. Lastly, people need to know there is greater reward for harder work. The more songs a song writer can create the greater chance he has at fame an fortune. A dishwasher still gets paid the same after an 8 hour shift no matter how many dishes he washes. I'm sure you get the point.

I can't imagine how many people have jobs that do not fit the category of "meaningful work." People can adjust and make do but I think it is vital that they find an outlet that meets the meaningful criteria. On Facebook, we all have our place. This is a place managed by us where we have independence. It is also a place where we can be creative. We can do things to make others laugh, bring encouragement, voice opinions, share about God, advocate for social change, whatever one can think of. Finally, the more effort you put into facebook the greater the return. The pages that are viewed the most and get the most comments and discussion going are the ones where the creator puts time, thought, and effort into it. So by spending time on Facebook, my preference, or other social networking sites....there is great opportunity to have "meaningful time." This for many sure beats the hell out of work. So in this sense Facebook is "more than just a playground.