We are told to 'do what we love' in life and our careers. Is that a fallacy? | Open thread

A recent commentary in Jacobin raises the question of whether young people are being fed a lie about following their passionMany 20 and 30-somethings (if not those older and younger than that) grew up hearing the advice that all you need to do in life is "find your passion". The implication is that if you "do what you love" (in shorthand: DWYL), success – and presumably happiness and money – would follow. People like Apple's Steve Jobs and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg were held up as examples (if not gurus) of this "DWYL" trend, alongside people who quit investment banking jobs to become cheese farmers, plumbers or yoga entrepreneurs. But writer and art history scholar Miya Tokumitsu argues that this romanticized notion of the working world is a dangerous fallacy. It's the modern-day equivalent of the emperor's new clothes myth.In a much shared commentary for Jacobin magazine (later re-printed on Slate.com), Tokumitsu writes:DWYL is a secret handshake of the privileged and a worldview that disguises its elitism as noble self-betterment. According to this way of thinking, labor is not something one does for compensation but is an act of love. If profit doesn't happen to follow, presumably it is because the worker's passion and determination were insufficient. Its real achievement is making workers believe their labor serves the self and not the marketplace.She points out that the vast majority of jobs have no place in the DWYL world because they are "done out of motives or... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #vast majority #guardian readers

Other news stories related to: "We are told to 'do what we love' in life and our careers. Is that a fallacy? | Open thread"

We are told to 'do what we love' in life and our careers. Is that a fallacy? | Open thread

A recent commentary in Jacobin raises the question of whether young people are being fed a lie about following their passionMany 20 and 30-somethings (if not those older and younger than that) grew up hearing the advice that all you need to do in life is "find your passion". The implication is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #guardian readers #vast majority

‘Love After Love’ reminds readers why we go to books in search of answers to life’s great questions

Ingrid Persaud’s Trinidad-set debut is a memorable, moving account of wounded people who come together to create an alternative family. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-12 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ingrid persaud

UK Opens Third Annual ‘Love Audio’ Week, Not Loving VAT on Audiobooks

Even as the UK's Publishers Association opens its 'Love Audio' campaign, London hasn't taken the cue from Brussels and dropped its VAT rate on audiobooks. The post UK Opens Third Annual ‘Love Audio’ Week, Not Loving VAT on Audiobooks appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-10 11:56:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vat rate #audiobooks appeared

Scott And Mark Hoying's Debut Children's Book Celebrates Their Real-Life Love Story

The Pentatonix singer and his husband say "How Lucky Am I?" parallels their own experiences as a married couple, including their dream of starting a family. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2024-06-20 16:24:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children's book #debut children

An 'emotional' Jennifer Grey opens up about how abortion changed her life

The 'Dirty Dancing' star discusses the upcoming sequel, her memoir and the Supreme Court's 'fundamentally wrong' abortion ruling. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-07-14 14:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #supreme court #dirty dancing

‘The Love of My Life’ is a masterful domestic thriller with a doozy of a plot

In Rosie Walsh’s new novel, husband and wife think they know each other, but do they? Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-12 13:00:23 UTC ]
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In Tessa Hadley’s ‘Free Love,’ a mother’s happy life is upended by a kiss

Tessa Hadley's "Free Love" follows a happy 1960s mother and wife who shocks her family — and herself. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-02-08 13:42:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #happy life #free love #tessa hadley

Our Love for Libraries Told in Photographs

Robert Dawson’s The Public Library: A Photographic Essay is a visual love letter to libraries and a testament to the power of reading. The post Our Love for Libraries Told in Photographs appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2022-01-28 21:30:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries #public library

How love, death and ampersands changed Kathryn Schulz's life

The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of the memoir "Lost and Found" unpacks the meaning and importance of joy and grief — and conjuctions. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-01-10 14:00:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir

Finding 'value in the valley': YA authors at a Festival panel on Black life and self-love

At a Times Book Festival panel on Black YA fiction, Dean Atta, Morgan Parker, Yusef Salaam and Ibi Zoboi discussed stories of teens making it through. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-18 01:13:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book #yusef salaam #dean atta #black life #ya authors

Jessie Ware pens book for Hodder Studio 'on food, life and love'

Hodder Studio has signed a book on food, life and love from musician and podcaster Jessie Ware. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-05 08:35:57 UTC ]
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An Unconventional Love Story, Told In Trinidadian Dialect

Ingrid Persaud made the grandest of debuts in the literary world by winning the BBC Short Story Award in 2018 with “The Sweet Sop,” the first short story she ever wrote. After this extremely auspicious beginning, the Trinidad-born writer, whose resume includes stints in legal academia and art... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-04 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary world #electric literature #art school #short story

Natalie Wood’s daughter opens up about the life and death of her famous mom

In her memoir “More Than Love,” Natasha Gregson Wagner delivers a poignant look at a complicated relationship and a tantalizing foray into “What if?” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #complicated relationship

Thomas Edison’s brilliant life, told in reverse

A biography by the late Edmund Morris paints a grand portrait of the prolific inventor. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-27 18:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #thomas edison

The Public Private Life Of Young Love In Sally Rooney's 'Normal People'

In the Irish author's second novel, two teens explore sex, secrets and what intimacy is worth. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2019-04-04 09:45:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #irish author #normal people #sally rooney #young love

Of love, life and literature: Athill’s last words from beyond the grave

Publishing doyenne tells of success tinged by heartache in film ‘to be seen after my death’“I am Diana Athill, and if you are watching this I am no longer alive. This is my final say.”With a flourish of self-conscious drama, Athill, the writer, literary editor and doyenne of British publishing,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british publishing #literary editor #diana athill

Capital Crime to open school students' eyes to publishing careers

London’s newly launched crime and thriller festival Capital Crime is preparing a new social outreach initiative to provide sixth form students with an insight into how they might be able to pursue careers in writing or publishing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #capital crime #publishing careers

WIRED Book Club: Loved Arrival? Check Out Ted Chiang’s ‘Story of Your Life’

Now that Ted Chiang is super hot, let's read some of his short fiction for the month of February. The post WIRED Book Club: Loved Arrival? Check Out Ted Chiang's 'Story of Your Life' appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2017-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short fiction #ted chiang

Originally Kenyan, Storymoja Book Festival Opens Its New Life in Ghana

After almost 10 years in its original Kenyan setting, Muthoni Garland's Storymoja Festival opens as an event in Accra, Ghana, newly relocated and pan-African in outlook. The post Originally Kenyan, Storymoja Book Festival Opens Its New Life in Ghana appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Does a university degree matter when it comes to getting a job? | Open thread

With Penguin Random House becoming the latest big company to say it will be disregarding academic achievements when hiring, we’d love to hear your viewsThe publishing group Penguin Random House announced this week that it will no longer require prospective job applicants to have university... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diverse people