The deepest source of human affection

I have been reading a book called 'Dispossessed.' It is a study of human nature disguised as a Si-fi novel. Today I came across a passage that struck me. The story mostly takes place on a fictional moon and earth (quite similar to our own). The moon was given to a group of anarchists that staged a global uprising on the Earth as a way to appease them. In this part of the story there is a terrible drought on the moon yet the people are in good spirits.

"The struggle to grow enough food became compulsive, desperate. Yet people were not desperate at all... It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skilful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well, - the durable joy is perhaps the deepest source of human affection and of sociality as a whole."

This passage explains what draws me to what I study and to the career that I pursue (especially the Peace Corps). There is some deeper satisfaction that one is able to get from doing a job that you know is important, a job that will help your fellow man. It seems to me that there is something hollow about working to make money and to possess more things. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with providing oneself and one's family with a comfortable life (in fact, by working for your family, even if you are doing a job that doesn't better the earth or mankind you are still doing work that is needed and may be able to avoid this dilemma) But in the end no matter how much money you have or how many things that you possess there will be something lacking if you are not genuinely able to get satisfaction out of your work.

This could be because it is in our nature to work. Work should not be looked at just as the means to an end but an end in itself. It seems that too many people view work as this torturous institution into which they are forced. This may be because either they don't see usefulness of their work or their work truly isn't useful and it is exactly this kind of work that "darkens the heart." Many of us have felt this way without really knowing why. We look forward to the end of the day, to weekends, to vacations, and ultimately to retirement when we don't have to work and can spend or days enjoying ourselves. But what most of us discover is that after a week or two weeks of vacation and 'relaxation' we have this desire to do something and if we don't, if we lay around the house and watch TV all day, we feel like a sloth, like something is missing. I believe that this is because it is in the nature of man to work and to get satisfaction of the work he does. If either of these to criteria aren't met; if one is not working or getting genuine satisfaction out of doing an important job well then there is nothing that could ever fill, "the deepest source of human affection."