Customer Reviews

A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's not clear who will be the audience for this book. In my experience, people turn to career books when they face challenges in their own careers. They want a step-by-step guide, or at least some direction.

Moore's book is about transformation rather than transition. Indeed, his core metaphor is based on the medieval art of alchemy. He offers a number of important insights, based on life experience and his work as a therapist. He reiterates some ideas that have been developed elsewhere. For instance, Rick Jarow emphasized the role of family and early childhood history in career decisions. Others have emphasized the importance of listening to signs, experimenting with different options and combining diverse career interests serially or simultaneously.

The chapters on the daimon and on dreams are more original. He suggests unique approaches to dealing with dreams and interpreting the daimon in one's life.

On the other hand, Life at Work will be frustrating to many readers. For instance, Moore describes an incident where a dedicated retail salesperson was undermined by his boss. It's not clear what lesson we're supposed to learn or what the man can do.

And Moore seems curiously naive about some elements of the workplace. Describing a company retreat, he wishes for more silence and more sense of community. But in today's corporate environments, you can't afford to be open and you can't trust your sense of community. You have to keep your game face and protect yourself. The employer-employee relationship is ultimately an economic one.

Ultimately, though, readers may be most frustrated because Moore seems to be an exceptionally gifted and wise therapist. We're on our own on this one.

While this is a nice spiritual book to read along your journey to finding your passion and life work, I did not find it to be very helpful or pragmatic for me.
The author has a very pleasant and engaging writing style that I enjoyed. He uses the metaphors of alchemy to explain the path to creating your life work. He also discusses the belief in the ancient world of us all having an Animus or Daimon that drive our passions and influence us. He also draws on the bible, Buddhism, and ancient mythology along his path to lead us to doing what we were born to do. I liked the fact that he took the focus on simply working and expanded the fact that our life work could be parenhood, our family, our hobbies, our religion, our whatever engages us and enables us to lose our sense of self in something bigger than we are. Beginners will find this book useful, but those of us that have been searching for meaning and a life work for years will likely be disappointed.

This was a nice book if you're interested in thinking about your problems but not actually doing anything to solve them. The author, a former minister/preacher/theologian has a very calming and insightful way of presenting his outlook and information, but he does nothing in terms of offering practical advice. The problems that he touches upon are centered mainly around work - finding your calling and happiness in your job. I thought he did a great job of explaining the problem, and drawing examples from real life, but he didn't offer any solutions. And, if you're reading a book like this it's probably a safe assumption that you're searching for answers. You won't find them here. There are a lot of other books that deal with similar topics: finding happiness in general, finding happiness at work, etc. and I'd suggest venturing into those because they offer useful/useable advice. Some suggestions: Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar, or
Now what? : 90 days to a new life direction by Laura Fortgang.

Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, has just released his newest book, A Life at Work. I have read Care of the Soul numerous times and consider its suggestions and ideas to be profoundly life changing. It's at the top of my "favorites" book list and I often recommend it to new friends. Whatever was done so splendidly in and with Care of the Soul seems to have now somehow found its true way home. A Life at Work has emerged from the cocoon of Tom's heart into a healing balm of thoughts, ideas and words fully understandable--yet immeasurably life-changing. In Care of the Soul, I re-read many sentences as I attempted to fully understand the gift of ideas being presented. Not so in this book. Reading, discovery, encouragement and amazement flowed with ease. Perhaps that's just me. But maybe not.

Whether, you have ever contemplated what it is you should be doing with your life--or perhaps more likely--if someone you know has been giving thought to what they want to do with their life, this Book is a rare, beautiful and precious "gemstone of guidance."' But make no mistake, please: it goes far beyond our selection of the right work. For all of us, Thomas Moore steadily offers hope that a life of beauty, achievement, and tranquility arises from the ordinary--when it's valued as extraordinary.

Can you tell I am recommending this book? I hope you will enjoy it...

Thomas Moore teaches from a place of experience, knowledge, in depth study, and vunerability. Soul and heart are often missing in people's chosen career paths in today's business climate.

A focus on inner work (removing the log from my eye, instead of focusing on the splinter in other's eyes) is required to awaken and implement the profound ideas in this 6 star book.

If we don't connect immediately with the message in A Life at Work, sit with it a while; this gem will put a strong foundation under your dream job. If on the other hand, you find yourself saying, "wow, I really get this, enjoy the ride.

This is one of the most useless books I have ever read. Thomas Moore talks about the philosphy of finding work you love, and tells stories and uses religious metphaor alot. a Daimon of work? Thie is described as a primal, creative urge. Yeah, so? What if you can't figure out what that Daimon is? If I'm having a problem figuring out what I like or what I want to do, digging deeper within myself is not helpful. If it were I would not be reading this book. As a therapist he falls into the trap of having you endlessly hash over your past, no, go digging into it. He also leans heavily on this idea of alchemy. Well, since this guy taught mythology and archetypal psychology in his many different careers that would explain most of this book. There are also times I think his interpretation of what happened in someone's life is a leap, and this deal he launches into with dream interpretation is too fluffy for me.

Bottom line is, in this world you may or may not get to do work you like. The business of having money to eat, to provide shelter, speaks to raw survival, not to the etheral ideas in this book. If you are looking for something practical or useful this is definately not the book for you.

What is the difference between success and happiness; and how can we attain both? These questions, and his answers to them, are the essence of Moore's book. He pulls from ancient and current sources, from business to art, and from family life to career, and gives insight to all of these and many other facets of our lives. Through it all, one theme repeats itself: We were each born with a purpose, a mission---a calling that matters to our own happiness and also to the success of the world.

The grand secret seems to be that by focusing on the success of the world and happiness of others, we find both in our own lives. But Moore teaches this in a deep and at times profound way that is moving as well as instructive. For me, Moore's book is more a work of art than a simple how-to.

For example, Moore teaches the difference between soul and spirit, and how both are part of our lives. Both are too often ignored in our modern world (to our own painful detriment). Also, he shows how the Greeks taught the difference between the eros (the things we love) and psyche (the person we are) parts of us and the real me in each of us. And he shows us how to bring these together in the practical, real world of everyday life.

Perhaps most importantly, Moore uses all this background to help us have better lives---especially at work, where most people spend over half of their adult lives. Too many people find success but not happiness; or, perhaps more commonly, struggle and don't even find the success they seek. Moore teaches us how---in basic, practical and effective ways---to live lives of success that are happy and deeply meaningful.

He teaches the reader to build effectively on the past, use inspiration and imagination to engage the future, and acknowledge dreams and signs in our lives that may be trying to tell us something important. All of these are about possibilities, which is vital to both success and happiness. By living strongly in the realm of possibilities, we naturally choose better, happier, more meaningful lives.

As Moore wrote: "Sometimes what life throws us as we try to find our way is not chaos but order. While it's true that many people can't find a direction for all the confusion around them and inside them, others are deeply unhappy because their lives make so much sense on the outside" (p.78). He quotes Heracleitus in saying, "The Lord whose oracle is in Delphi neither indicates clearly nor conceals but gives a sign" (p. 12). In the twenty-first century, what are the signs? What are yours? Are you being given signs that you don't notice or purposely ignore? What is your mission in life? What is your great calling to bless the world? Are you doing it? How is it going?

Above all, this is a book about depth. So much in life is shallow, but your life itself must find real depth in order to find true success, happiness and meaning. There are so many books in this genre, but this is certainly among the very best! Whatever you do, be sure to read pages 91-95, and study the section on how our most important answers in life don't come rationally (p. 122-140)! Finally, what are the phases of your life so far? And ahead? What are the most important passages you've been through? What inspires you the most? And who?

The message of this book is a must in our generation---a call to become who we really are, to do what we were born for. In a world of career path and limiting structure, this book is a call to be ourselves. and a guide on how to do it. Whether you agree or disagree with the specifics (and I did both), the general ideas are considered and discussed far too little in our society. This book is a remedy! I highly recommend it.

I feel strongly that this book should be read by our working population. What refreshing words for a hamster-wheel world we live in these days...a great summer read and good idea for gift-giving.

...for the release of this book. I am a huge fan of Moore's work but unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed with this particular tome. The depth normally found in Moore's books was lacking - it was subpar to his usual great standard. It was more self-help book than intellectual inquiry.

I've heard some good things about Thomas Moore, but this is the first book I've read. I'm rather baffled as to what this book is trying to communicate. It drifts along almost as if it were sleepwalking, from one fairly brief metaphor or example to the next. I was more than a little surprised by the breezy almost superficial writing style. I am a very reflective person but found almost nothing to reflect upon, in direct contradiction to what I thought I would be invited to do.

Instead I was instructed, rather simplistically in all the symptoms surrounding finding your life work. No helpful ways to be deeply healthy in embracing that life's work from a deeply reflective OR practical space. No playful reveries. No really in-depth examples. My life and my search for the right job, reflective of my soul, is not a spectator activity. Unfortunately reading this book was.

If this book reflects Moore's own current state than I'd say he needs to contemplate his own advice. The book felt obligatory, like he was fulfilling a publishing contract, not producing an expressive, engaging work. I truly do hope though that this sub-par effort may positively help him to go forward. In an odd way it has helped me.