The maker is the product!
The sense of the doer, being the subject that performs all actions, dominates most conventional perceptions of selfhood. The thoughts we have, the actions we perform, the feelings we perceive are all posited upon our sense of being, the platform upon all action is conducted.
A reversal has taken place, from being an actor we are the one being acted upon.
This is especially so in our external field of action, our work & career. We stumble, we learn, we get better. And begin taking pride in our accomplishments. See ourselves as the force and lever which upholds the works issued from us. The product we created or worked upon, the services we offered, the kind word to the one in need of hope, the offensive poise to the one whose bubble needed bursting and more. We look behind in pride to a bouquet of works and accomplishments.
However, in moments when we peer behind and below the surface of our being, we find that the ‘I’ that started the journey is no longer there! Here is another in its place. Whether nobler or baser, wider or narrower depends on the detours of our individual journeys but the old I is no more.
A dispassionate analysis would lead us to conclude that while we were engaged in making our mark on the world, the world in turn has quietly, with nary a whisper, has worked upon us. And in time we have become another. While we were busy building ‘products’, there was another being built out by Nature and Time. A reversal has taken place, from being an actor we are the one being acted upon.
A materialistic approach to life does tend to consider this under skill-development and pay some attention to it via organisational principles and practices. But I like to view this phenomena by the term self-development, or Self-Development. A factor that will be crucial to building organisations that not only serve customers but also serve as the field of inner and outer growth for employees in it.
Perhaps this is very far away from a pragmatic implementation perspective, but thought would throw it out here for your thoughts & perspectives.
