Last week I had the opportunity to Talk Story with my dear friend, Steve Gordon. Our conversation ran the gamut but one thought stood out for me. Can you count the number of times you’ve attended a gathering, been introduced to someone new and asked the question, “what do you do for a living”? The question, in and of it’s self, is not offensive but the expectation of the answer could be. Think about it. A living. What do you DO for a living? Normally a verb (meaning the act of being alive), the word ‘living’ has been transformed to be about what we do for work. Our automatic response is to regurgitate our chosen profession or current job title. Don’t misunderstand me, what we do for work is an important part of who we are but we can’t forget we are so much more.

Living is about taking every moment and being present in what it has to offer. All of your experiences can make you a better designer, parent, significant other; flat out a better person. Because when you pull from who you are and what you love to do, everything about you is better and more authentic. This is especially true as a member of the creative community. We know that our work is personal and we allow ourselves to take it personally when someone doesn’t like the design solution we have provided. But so often we do not bring ourselves to our work. Putting our experiences as well as our training and design know-how into our daily workday and our projects literally transforms the end result and our effectiveness as professionals.

It’s this immersion in doing what you love that transforms how you go about your work and removes the line that our society draws between work and life. It’s a line that doesn’t need to be drawn if you have truly found work that you enjoy doing and you keep yourself engaged. I’m not saying not to make some differentiations between working and not working. It really comes down to BEING PRESENT. If you are talking with your kids, put your iphone down. If you are working with a client, give them the best of what you have to offer looking past your feelings and looking to your abilities to provide business solutions.

Next time someone asks you “what you do for a living”, give an answer that embodies ALL that you are and move past defining yourself by what it says on your business card. You belong to YOU. The company you work for, the clients you design for, and the family you provide for all benefit from YOU. Steve said it so well during our Talk Story time, “I live for a living and that’s what I hope people see.” Those of you who know Steve understand that this philosophy is deeply infused into his work and his persona. Whether riding BMX, breaking records on the track or creating an identity for a client, we should be living for a living.

Click here for a full hour of “Talk Story with Jeni” and Steve at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jeniherberger or directly from my site at http://jeniherberger.com