There are Clark Kents all over the place.
Example: as a teen, once I became skilled enough as a waitress to do the job (i.e. get the right plate to the right person, make drinks, open wine, drop a check and make change), like many, I turned my goals to something else. Spiritual service. I wanted to show life is safe, even fun, and everyone can get their needs met. I also hoped to fill up guests with an abundance of good energy, in hopes they would do the same for their community after departing.
We all do this, I think, serve a greater mission than just the superficial nature of our jobs — even if the mechanics of our job work in tandem. I’m pretty sure most every day people live superhero missions, at least some of the time — Clark Kents populate our space. And these every day people typically don’t like to be called out for their missions either. That’s the kind of thing elites tend to do.
But the tradeoff is feeling insulted, and the indignity of being treated like you care only about the most superficial tasks and purpose connected to your career.
The thing is, if you hide your ‘true’ mission, you may also have to deal with frustration and hit to your ego when someone tells you you aren’t doing your job.
Example two: in a later career, I used digital marketing4 as a vehicle for doing spiritual service. Although I hid behind my job of gaining stats, improving sales, setting up systems, and creative messaging, my secret plan was to serve as a bastion of fairness, transparency, and good will on the internet and to put out love to people, by kindness, beauty, egalitarian methods of information, and truth. It’s a slog like you wouldn’t believe, now complicated by AI, and I feel like I’m failing, but that’s another essay or three. 1, 2, 3,
And I’ve found myself deeply insulted when folks treat me as if I’m most interested in the numbers, money, or “doing a good job.” Yay and nay. The actual tasks matter, they must be aligned, but no one can replace my care in doing my secret mission, yet I have still become overly upset when I’ve gotten called out on some superficial aspect of my work not being good enough. It’s like a dagger was taken to my secret superhero cape. Ha!
I’m not sure how to summarize, or guide on this matter, only to bring it forth to the light of day. I honestly prefer my Clark Kent get up and pretending I don’t care.
