Arbeiten, Herstellen, and Handeln
Philosopher Hannah Arendt argued that there are three kinds of work: Arbeiten, Herstellen, and Handeln (labor, work, and action). While Arbeiten is simply the act of keeping ourselves and our bodies in motion to survive, Herstellen is of higher significance, as it means producing an artifact from our hands. And even higher – and consequently most fulfilling – is Handeln, which Arendt describes as changing our relationship to others. Whether it means helping someone, yelling at them, persuading or hitting someone, Handeln is what makes us political beings. So, in order to have a fulfilling job, it’s important to push our work past simply Arbeiten and Herstellen towards Handeln, where it becomes important for others.

take action
I was recently asked to sum up what I learned in 2015, what I’m now able to do that a year ago I wouldn’t have been. I guess the biggest thing I learned this year was to speak my mind. I’m not talking about saying what I want when I want it (I’ve pretty much always been able to do that), but more along the lines of saying what I don’t want. And what I don’t think is right. Even if it doesn’t concern me directly. To those people who are doing or saying it. At that moment. That’s Handeln.

say something
Numerous developments in my personal life and in society as a whole have led to this, the biggest being the omnipresent, so-called ‘refugee situation’ in the media, in our cities and on our borders. It led me – forced me even, at times – to form an opinion on this topic. To take a stand when things happened or were said that I don’t agree with. To comment on hateful posts on the internet rather than reading them and not reacting.

mix the personal and the professional
But since I’m a freelancer, things that affect me personally also tend to reach into my professional life, and vice versa. Like the coached collaborative project with other freelancers that I took part in this year. It’s a completely different experience than if you’ve got a client, or if you are the client. Hierarchy, decision-making, team-building – all of those things are suddenly up in the air when everyone has the same basic position. To get things done, you have to say what you want done, what you want to do, and more importantly, what you are not willing to do, and what you don’t want to happen. This project almost fell apart because I sat on the fence about a topic too long – until I spoke out about how I felt. Yes, there were consequences, but consequences I could definitely live with.

turn up the manifesto
I decided long ago quietly for myself: I just want to make nice things and get enough sleep, while earning just enough money to get by and buy cat food. But that’s not enough, is it, if the world doesn’t know where you stand. After all, don’t we learn about the importance of things like corporate identity, branding, and corporate culture? Customers and clients want to know what they’re dealing with. And on the producing side, life is a lot easier if you don’t have to tell people you’re uncomfortable working with that you are in fact uncomfortable if they know where you stand from the beginning. You can concentrate your energy on those clients and customers for whom you do want to work. So, I’ve recently been working on turning this once quietly-stated manifesto into a loudly-stated reality.

so what’s new?
For one, I’m starting a year-long training course next week for a certificate to teach German to speakers of other languages. After all, I work with languages. The whole concept of my company is based on the fact that I migrated in my childhood and again in my teen years. All through my career, this has been a defining aspect for me. Why not pass that on, so others can benefit?
Secondly, I’m currently filling up my online store with hand-lettered prints that will bring beauty and fun into the world. True, this may technically be part of Herstellen, but the concept behind it is to spread good, inspiring, funny, beautiful messages I agree with, so, yes, it’s Handeln for me too. (More on this in detail in the next blog post!)

add purpose
If you’d have asked me what my life would look like a year ago, I wouldn’t have guessed it. Somehow it feels like this year was a defining year for me as a person. Whether it was sparked from the fact that I’m now a freelancer and that has changed me, or whether what changed me makes me a better freelancer – you can never really tell. Things just keep happening that I get to react to, everything seems to be in a state of flow. (I used to wish for that when I was working at a publishing company; often times, it felt like years went by and nothing changed. As a freelancer, I’m constantly on my toes – even about things that happen to me personally.) At any rate, it feels like I’ve been able to add purpose to what I do.

voilá!
So, to sum up, I guess you could say I learned – or began to learn – how to shift my work from simply Arbeiten (in my case, client work and proof reading) to Werken (hand lettering and logo design) up to Handeln (using my skills to benefit others). And yet, life’s not so different from the plate spinning I talked about in this blog post. It’s just plate spinning that now has some added plates: some are beautifully crafted by hand, and some are for others to eat off of in the future. Right now, my focus is on keeping those in the air.