Interview With Steve Miller (Part 1)
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
`According to Steve Miller, that ancient proverb is misguided. In the first installment of this two-part interview, Steve shares the long journey he took to discover his true passion—drama—and why it’s more than okay that drama isn’t his livelihood today. The latest in Know Why’s Thriving at Work series, this episode offers a fun conversation about childhood dreams, work, meaning, hobbies, community, and more.
Steve’s career hasn’t turned out the way he planned. In the episode, Steve shares how his aspirations went from being a pilot, to being a preacher, to being a teacher, to acting. Today, though busy with multiple acting projects on stage and on film, Steve’s job title is producer of Point of View Radio Talk Show.
Reframing Our Attitude Toward Work
Steve is ok with the fact that acting, while his passion, isn’t his livelihood.
“‘Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ I think that’s the most ridiculous thing to say,” Steve told Know Why. “Because why? Because it assumes that work’s a bad thing.”
“Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life. I think that’s the most ridiculous thing to say … because it assumes that work’s a bad thing.”
Steve Miller
A Christian, Steve points out that humans were created to work. It’s not necessarily our job titles that must change in order for us to be happy at work, he argues, but our understanding of work itself.
Everyone has to do tasks they don’t like, whether they’re making money at their “dream job” or not. One can find meaning in their work—whatever it is—by “doing it as unto the Lord,” Steve said, quoting the Bible verse Colossians 3:23. He added that part of working unto the Lord is understanding that we need to be in community with other people. Liberty noted that one of the recognized “secrets” to happiness at work is finding meaning in one’s work, specifically by viewing one’s work as a service to others or making the world a better place.
Quoting Frederick Buechner, Steve said:
“‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’ So this ‘place’ is not going to be the same for you as it is for me and vice versa. But it involves not just the satisfaction of our passion, our joys, our desires … but also the meeting of the needs of others.”
In Part 2 of this interview, Steve shares more about finding joy in both paid and unpaid work, and why our vocation and avocation don’t have to align for us to be happy.
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