In my experience, producing things you care about, and doing so in a way that allows you to express yourself, is what gives meaning and purpose to your life, an

In my experience, producing things you care about, and doing so in a way that allows you to express yourself, is what gives meaning and purpose to your life, and what allows you to define who you are. Often, it does not qualify as "work", in that you won't receive money for it. Making Art would be the canonical example of this. But you actually find it in a many diverse things, from building a cool, unique app to solve a problem you care about, to building beautiful furniture for your house, to writing an essay explaining a view you care about, to elegantly solving a math problem that had been exciting your curiosity. What does not provide meaning and purpose to your life, is work with no room for self-expression, self-direction and self-definition. Most jobs done "for the money" fall into this category.