From the kitchen table to a shared office space: My Year of Coworking follows a freelance writer through her 2013 transition into the more hopeful frontier of coworking. 

What do you love most about what you do? I posed this question to a smattering of self-employed individuals at my coworking space in Santa Cruz, California. Not only did it prove to be an effective way to break the ice and meet new people, the variety of answers turned out to be quite moving.

I then opened the question up to others via social media. Below is a list of some of my favorite responses, the majority of them come from self-employed individuals. Three common threads seem to run through the list: creativity, transformation, and helping other people.

Next week's post will revisit this list and explain the motivation behind this question; a curiosity and quest for the inspirational glue that keeps a dream from being deferred. 

Please join in by posting your answer in the comments.

What do you love most about what you do?

• I love helping people work better together, and supporting really fabulous organizaions and their people.—coworker Bernice Moore, Ph.D, an Organization and Leadership Developer for ICO Consulting.

• I love having the freedom to choose what I work on.—coworker Andrew Donley, programmer.

• Adrenaline, the push to get it right and get it done and move on. If your heart beats faster you know you're doing the right thing.—coworker Doug Kass, business and technology journalist who pumps out 1,500 words every single day.

• I love the friendly and attractive staff at the cafe, and the delicious espresso.—Fred Meng, manager of the Sentinel Cafe.

• I get to write about things that matter to me. I get to tell stories of people and projects that are making a positive impact on the world.—coworker Cat Johnson, writer.

• I love meeting with people and hearing about what they are doing. If they need or want help, I love thinking with them how to apply appropriate technology or process to their issue… I love being a citizen of 2.0, with a mission to make things better. Getting paid to make things better is the best job in the world.—Chris Neklason, co-founder of Cruzio Coworking

• Every day is different.—Brad Kava, journalist and editor at Santa Cruz Patch.

• Witnessing transformations—I cut hair and give massages, people are transformed in 30-60 minutes.—Lisa Palmer

• I love receiving letters of gratitude from people, saying that my books changed their lives, and the friendships that have emerged from my work —David Jay Brown, science writer.

• I love starting something new everyday, cutting into a new piece of wood and seeing what's inside, and the passion to see what it looks like when it's finished and polished. If I don't start a new piece every day I feel lost.—Frank Grusauskas, woodworker at FCG Wood Work (also my father).

• The healing, physically and emotionally. It's mutual.—Jennie Fish, massage therapist.

• I get to watch those newest to the world explore, learn, love and fully live. "I am three years old, so basically I a giant," a recent quote that sums it up.—Aurora Wingard, preschool teacher.

• The benefits recieved from a areally good internal Gong Fu workout routine. It's a special feeling that the body experiences, when the spirit is lifted.—Gene Ervin, Gong Fu instructor.

• Watching kids catch their first fish.—Christopher Rose, Manager at Rainbow Trout Farm

• I love to share my love of reading; turn people on to great books and watch them get excited—especially children.—Norma DeMay, Librarian, (also my mother). 

• Watching people react to my art with joy and laughter.—Todd Williams, artist and sculptor.

• I love spreading musical abilities to the youth, because it's like planting seeds of creativity all through the community.—Jonathan Grusauskas, co-owner and teacher at The Music Cellar.

• If I am in a bad mood, going to interview someone always brings me back up… Also it takes my mind off my problems, just asking someone else to talk about themselves.—Georgia Perry, staff writer at the Santa Cruz Weekly.

• What do you love most about what you do? Share your answer in the comment section of this article.