this philosophy teacher on bigthink said something like. we work for an end (money, status etc) and in competitive environments and try to have greater means but what is the thing we are working towards? what is the thing we are doing for no ends? To not acquire anything greater, but to only do it? you work all week to do what on the weekend? And you career doesn’t have to be that thing, but it can live inside of you and you can have a thoughtful, stimulated and reflective mind even during the week day and at work. Like Einstein had that boring job but looked at trains go by and that’s when he had his ideas about physics. Or MC hammer is a hip hop artist but loves consciousness studies. Or some guy worked in an office but wrote a very successful book about birds just learning what he could watching them from his office. and that Aristotle said we work towards having leisure and contemplation is the greatest leisure. It’s common to think (even I think that) that today we can’t really afford to contemplate and it is reserved for people who already have money and don’t need to be in offices or warehouses or construction sites — people who naturally grew up around culture from elite schools, unaffordable cities and regular travel can afford to contemplate while everyone else works; and is too tired to contemplate by the weekend. but actually it is empowering to know that Kafka worked clerical jobs and was still Kafka. Einstein became himself not in a Physics Research Center thing but during a regular job. and that in our minds we can always have the thing we do for no end.