A Message from Chuck Black
insights from the CFN Director
June 26, 2024
Chuck Black
Not long ago, I happened upon an article in GQ magazine, provocatively titled "According to Harvard, this is the kind of job that makes people the unhappiest," by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. It’s a headline designed to grab your attention. Who wouldn’t be interested to know the answer to: "What's the unhappiest job in the world?" Even more importantly, you would want to make sure it's not the job YOU have.
I was interested in reading the article to understand how we can ensure our work environment at the CFN doesn't fall into that category.
The article reveals that it’s not any specific profession that makes people the unhappiest, but rather a particular type of job. Unhappy jobs are those that are lonely. They isolate us and create frustrations inside us. As we age, loneliness can lead to health risks comparable to those associated with smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, people in lonely jobs are 40% more likely to experience depression. Forty percent!
In contrast, jobs that involve working as a team have a profoundly positive impact on our happiness and sense of belonging. Strong social connections significantly contribute to better health and happiness, which I think we all intrinsically know.
I got to thinking that in places like the CFN, our work can be either lonely or "not lonely." The CFN is filled every day with staff members and visiting user researchers. And so, we can choose to interact, or we can choose to work apart. It’s up to us!
In 2023, we consciously embraced "not lonely" work. We chose camaraderie and the experience of working together. An excellent example of our collaborative spirit is our annual NSLS-II and CFN Users' Meeting, which we hosted in May — in person for the first time since 2019. It was a fantastic event, bringing together nearly 600 attendees from around 140 different institutions. The vibe around CFN and NSLS-II was perfect that week, with staff and users engaged and excitedly exchanging ideas at the technical workshops. I couldn't help but smile and feel optimistic for what's to come. We can all be thankful for the members of both Users Executive Committees, who worked diligently to pull together this successful event.
Reflecting on the success of the Users' Meeting reminds me of the notion of "Finding Your Element" — a term coined by the late Sir Ken Robinson, an esteemed educationalist and author. Robinson is known for his groundbreaking work on creativity and education, tirelessly stressing the importance of finding one’s purpose in life. He defined "The Element" as the intersection of our natural aptitude and personal passion. Our Element connects us to something fundamental about our identities.
People who have found their Element are apt to say, "I’m doing in life what I was made to do."
For many of us at CFN, scientific research is our Element. In Robinson's terms,
- We “get” it. We have a natural aptitude for research.
- We love it. The pursuit of knowledge brings us deep delight and pleasure.
- We want it. We seek opportunities to engage in research, showing perseverance when faced with challenges.
And finally, there's one more important aspect of the Element, which is finding a community of like-minded people who share our passion. For people like us, that's at the CFN. The CFN is more than just a nanoscience accelerator; it’s a community for helping us achieve our highest research aspirations.
Let’s continue to foster an environment in CFN where we can all find our Element. We're all important parts of this vibrant community. Let's work together and do something meaningful, and ensure that our work is enriching, fulfilling, and never lonely.
— Charles Black
Director and Senior Scientist
Center for Functional Nanomaterials
Brookhaven National Laboratory
2024-21975 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
