"And yes, I'd love for my book to be a bestseller. Financial success would be welcome. But as I sat with their advice, I realized: that's not why I wrote it. That's not what I actually want. What I want is for people to see what I see. To recognize the beauty in these ideas. To be helped by them. I want this thing I've labored over to live in the world-to flourish and do good."
"In the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus, a music teacher spends decades believing his opus, his great work, is the symphony he's composing on the side. But in the end, he discovers his real opus was his students: the lives he shaped, the musicians and people he helped bring forth into the world. That film captures something profound. The word opus comes from Latin, meaning one's defining work."
"And 25 centuries ago, Plato gave us language for why this matters so deeply. In the Symposium, a wise woman named Diotima teaches Socrates about the true nature of eros: love, desire, longing. Her insight cuts against everything we assume about ambition. She introduced a phrase: tokos en kalōi (τόκος ἐν καλῷ), or giving birth in beauty. This, she argued, is what eros is ultimately about."
Creative fulfillment comes from seeing one's work flourish and be helpful, not merely achieving financial success or fame. A lifelong opus is the defining work that shapes identity, distinct from a job or career. Long-term commitments often reveal unexpected opuses, such as a teacher whose students become his lasting contribution. The word opus is Latin for defining work and connects with Greek ergon, meaning characteristic activity. Plato's Symposium describes eros as desire to give birth in beauty—tokos en kalōi—framing creativity and ambition as a drive to bring forth beauty that benefits others and endures in the world.
Read at Psychology Today
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