Lives of Choice, Lives of Meaning
Charles Christiansen, EdD, OTR, FAOTA Director, Center for Allied Health, University of Minnesota
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It is shortly after dawn, and the brilliant morning sunlight streams through the windows of her home studio. Beth is already at work shaping the form of her latest sculpting project. As her hands work quickly over the supple clay, the features of a head and face gradually reveal themselves. This clay figure is of a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, eyes aglow with the anticipation and promise of a life just beginning to unfold. It is unclear if the sculptor has a particular identity in mind influencing this work, or if the figure is imaginary. As I watch her, I wonder what she must be thinking as the shape emerges from the reddish brown clay.

Beth-an attractive, slim woman in hear late sixties-talks to us as she works, informing us that sculpture is an occupation of choice in this current phase of her life. Once her five children were well along their own life paths, she reveals, Beth determined to begin pursuing the interests she had saved for another day during her years as a busy and dutiful corporate wife and mother. These planned projects, as she put it, needed to get underway before her joints became stiff with arthritis or some other familiar consequence of aging. Learning to sculpt in clay was one of the best decisions she ever made, she says solemnly, as she wipes her hands with a towel and cradles the warmth of the coffee mug with both hands.

Between sips, she discloses that while the roles of being a wife and mother were fulfilling in their own way, she always viewed them as portraying an incomplete identity. An unmet need to express her feelings in a creative way remained in the attic of her mind-calling her to explore its possibilities. In addition to her sculpting, she decided to join a creative writing group and for two years has been sharing her writing with others, many of them retired people at similar stages in their lives.

Beth has discovered through this group that other people feel a need to express feelings of who they are and what life has meant to them. Creative writing provides an outlet that allows them to share a common interest, hone their creative skills, and get constructive feedback. Although the members in her group have very different backgrounds, she notes, they have bonded in a special way by discussing their work, which often reveals long dormant emotions from events in their past.

As with others in her group, subjects for Beth's writing assignments are often taken from memories of life experiences or relationships that have lingered in her mind as unfinished business. My writing and my sculpting seem to work best, she observes, when they come from feelings. I have chosen to write and to sculpt for my personal enjoyment and fulfillment. There was a large part of my life when I was greatly concerned about being accepted by others or being practical and efficient. Now, I am more concerned with understanding and being comfortable with myself. It is important that what I do genuinely reveals my identity. My children and grandchildren will have memories and objects that show a side of me different than the efficient wife and mother they may remember. This idea is very comforting to me because it makes me think of myself as complete.

Beth's story offers a vivid example of how personal meaning and identity are shaped by life's everyday occupations. Typically, people rarely take time to think about what they do on a daily basis, and discussions of lifestyle, when they occur, are most often centered around time management, coping with the stressful demands of living, or acquiring habits that are healthful, such as getting regular exercise, sufficient sleep and eating a diet that is balanced and nutritious.

Just as fish take water for granted, people are typically so immersed in living that they forget-as the saying goes-that life is something that happens to them while they are busy making plans for the future. Then, one day they wake up and find that a good portion of their life has passed them by. Like Beth, they may find themselves wanting to make the best use of their remaining time. Not uncommonly, they seek answers to the age-old existential questions of "Who am I?" and "Why am I alive?" Since these are matters of life meaning, they represent spiritual concerns that most people contemplate during adulthood.

Commonly, answers to these and related questions about life's purpose are sought within the comfort and tradition of religions, which for many people have provided time-honored answers to questions on meaning in life, as well as guidance on how to live in a manner that will be personally and spiritually satisfying. But just as participation in organized religion can be spiritual, people may also occupy themselves through meaningful, spiritual acts that take place outside of organized religion.

These can be as varied as walking in nature, meditating, or deeply reading and reflecting on rich sources of literature that may be inspirational, insightful, or personally meaningful. The French philosopher Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, who sought to integrate science and religion, is said to have observed that people are not physical beings living in a spiritual world, but rather spiritual beings living in a physical world. Actions have meanings. As a result, people can shape their identities and influence meanings that are important to them through choice and action in their everyday lives.

Despite the fundamental benefit that everyday occupations can provide in creating personal meaning and identity; until a decade ago, only scant scientific work had been focused on understanding these issues. In the early 1990's, however, the study of how people use time (that is, what they do, why, and to what benefit?) began in earnest. As a result, much is being learned now about how skills influence feelings of competence, and how doing things can lead to greater confidence and self-esteem. Not surprisingly, these are some of the factors necessary for achieving an acceptable identity and achieving a sense of well-being.

Although theories are still in their infancy, occupational scientists soon will have a better understanding of how a person's personality, background, abilities and interests can be used to help them select everyday occupations that are best for their individual circumstances. The aim is to place individuals at best advantage for creating lifestyles and life stories that are most satisfying to them.

Just as Beth chose sculpting to shape the creative side of her identity, and writing to understand and express the feelings and emotions of her life experiences, others can choose different pursuits with equally beneficial results. After all, each of us is the leading character in our personal autobiography, and we have options in how we live our lives. The good news is that occupational science may soon help us make the right choices as we create chapters that have the content and meaning - created through everyday activities that bring us personal satisfaction.

© 2001 Charles Christiansen. All rights reserved.

Concepts in the essay are supported by the following scientific literature.

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