54 pages • 1 hour read
David Isay, Maya MillettCallings: The Purpose and Passion of Work
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Index of Terms
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaThemes
Finding Purpose and Pleasure in Work
One of the central themes in Callings is the importance of finding not only purpose but also pleasure in one’s work. The subtitle of the book—“The Purpose and Passion of Work”—states this explicitly, and the Introduction written by Dave Isay further highlights this theme. Isay quotes from Studs Terkel’s study that says people look to work “for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor” (3). In other words, people want their work, whatever that is, to give them sustenance and survival but also purpose and joy. Isay reiterates this by saying he hopes the book will inspire readers to find the meaning in their own work.
The individuals in these stories have all succeeded in deriving meaning—purpose and pleasure both—from their professions. This does not mean, however, that they all gain that meaning from the same aspects of work or in the same ways. For some, the ability to chase a dream, no matter how unusual or unprofitable, allows them to find work that offers a deeper purpose and joy in their lives. This is true for those in Part 1, such as Herman Hays, the street-corner astronomer. His “job” is unusual, as much a hobby as work since he receives tips instead of wages. However, lack of income does not concern him; instead, the joy he derives from astronomy and his purpose in sharing that joy with others sustains him more than any regular day job possibly could. For Herman, astronomy is not merely a job but “the best part of [his] life” (14), without which the rest of his life loses meaning. This mindset appears throughout the book, such as when Marat Kogut says of his referee work, “I was doing it because I really loved it” (28), and when Marc Lawson says of his father, “[H]is work was his hobby, and his hobby was his work” (229). For many, the ideal is a situation that blurs the boundaries between work and pleasure.
For others in Callings, the purpose and pleasure of work come from one’s ability to heal and support other people, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. For the healers in Part 2, this can often require great sacrifice of time, family, and their own emotional or mental health. However, while the book posits sacrifice as an important aspect of meaningful work, the individuals in Part 2 almost unanimously claim they do not feel they have sacrificed anything at all. For people like Austin Chen, the ob-gyn, or Michelle Alore, the ICU nurse, the time and care required do not feel like work because they receive joy and meaning in helping people. The stories in the section on philosophers often portray similar attitudes. For many of the individuals in Part 4, working-class labor such as being a subway conductor or a waitress becomes more meaningful when it allows them to share a sense of enlightenment and peace with others. The implied argument is that every kind of work can be meaningful, and any amount of pain and sacrifice can be transformed into purpose and pleasure if one approaches the work with an accepting attitude.
Listening for Inspiration in Unexpected Places
In the common imagination, a “dream job” is usually a glamorous or high-paying profession such as an actor, doctor, lawyer, or musician. Stories in Callings show how the most fulfillment and joy can come from the most unexpected and unassuming jobs. Sometimes, these kinds of work appear in one’s life more organically—seemingly at random or by accident. As the author states in the Introduction, one must pay careful attention and listen to the world to notice these moments and accept the calling when it claims them.
In some cases, this calling comes from a place of pain and grief. In the case of Ajodeji Ogunniyi, the inspiration for his work arrived in the wake of his father’s murder. He realized that improving educational opportunities in his community may prevent more disadvantaged youths from turning to crime, like those who killed his father. He thus felt inspired to become an English teacher despite earlier plans for medical school. This decision proved to be healing for himself as well as others, as he states, “[I]t was sort of like a healing mechanism for me. I forgot about the pain of the murder” (172). By listening to the calling when it arrived, he was able to help not only others but also himself. Similarly, Vito de la Cruz was motivated by the hardship his family and others faced as migrant farmworkers to become a lawyer and public defender who works to improve immigration and migrant policies. If he had not paid attention to the injustice around him and listened to the voice that told him he could make a difference, he might not have found his calling in law. Instead of simply escaping his background, he worked to improve conditions for undocumented immigrants.
In other places, the inspiration seems to come out of nowhere, calling the individual away from what they thought they would do with their life and down another path entirely. Despite going to college and working in the fashion industry in Paris and New York, Issan Koyama found himself confronted with the reality of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and became a hospital chaplain. Another good example is Lyle Link, who was thrust into the position of building contractor completely by accident with no previous experience. In both cases, these men could have refused the work that chance had given them and done something more in line with their original plans. Instead, they each took a chance on fate and, in doing so, found their true calling.
Occasionally, one’s profession requires one to help others to find and listen to those moments of unexpected inspiration. For instance, Al Siedlecki, the eighth-grade science teacher, views teaching as a role that facilitates “magic moments” when students encounter a subject that calls to them. It is his job to help students listen when their callings arrive. Likewise, the artist and educator Sol Aramendi uses her photography class as a space to help her students pay attention to the world around them and find a sense of peace and belonging. No matter what odd or unexpected place that calling comes from, the point is to carefully listen so one does not miss it.
Work and the American Dream
Another important theme in Callings concerns the connections between work and the American dream. The concept of the American dream is amorphous and looks different to each person, but at its foundation, it’s a narrative about the promise of success and fulfillment available to those who live in the United States. This success usually includes both financial and community support, as well as the hope or assumption that each generation will be a bit better off than the one before it. Though the book never explicitly mentions the American dream, the idea permeates many of the stories contained within it.
Implied in these stories is the idea that work that is fulfilling and emotionally nourishing rather than merely practical is an essential element of achieving the elusive American dream. This is clear in the stories of Ronald McNair and Storm Reyes from Part 1. They each showed great resilience and strength as they struggled through racial and class obstacles (for Ronald, segregation in the South, and Storm, poverty as a migrant farmer) to reach their dreams. While Ronald became an astronaut and Storm became a library assistant, it is the overall betterment of their situations rather than their specific careers that is important. In these two stories, as with many others, they are less interested in making money to survive and more interested in pushing beyond the status quo to achieve success and fulfillment.
Whereas Ronald and Storm reach for their own personal dreams as a way toward the American dream, the individuals in Part 2 view their family lineages as an integral part of that process. Consider the examples of Anne Lucietto, who works as an engineer like her father and grandfather, and Olga Ayala, who sees her artistic career as a tribute to her mother’s own artistic endeavors. For these two women, the very act of following in a parent’s footsteps signifies the fulfillment of the American dream, as each generation works to improve the lives of the next. In other stories, children see the hardships in their parents’ lives as inspiration to improve their own conditions. This is the case for people like Gayle Lain, who worked to avoid a similar fate to his father, who died young on an oil rig.
The individuals included in the section about groundbreakers best embody this theme because they broaden the American dream to include more people. When Wendell Scott worked through racial prejudice to become a race car driver, he knew it was the only thing he was meant to do with his life because racing is his calling and passion. But in reaching for his own dream, he also dismantled obstacles to allow others to do the same. In the same way, Dorothy Glinton surpassed gender barriers to become a woman manager with Ford; she says, “[I]f I just stood there and did not try to make things better when I saw other people having the same problems I was having, everything would be in vain” (250). She understood that she needed to do it not only for herself but also for the women who will follow behind her. Throughout Part 5, people climb over immense obstacles and defy all limitations to make the American dream an achievable goal, not only for themselves but also for the generations that come after them.
