[edo]

Knowing why you do something, puts the soul in your work. Without it, it's just work. I refuse to believe life is simply a long grind of do-ing with an eventual not-doing as the reward. No. Love for your work, passion for what you do, is the thing that fathers beautiful things. It's the thing that makes great companies work. Heck, it's the thing that makes life work.

You list power, status or passion as possible why's. Which leads me to believe you misunderstand what true motivation really is. Wanting to create something beautiful for the sake of beauty, to contribute in a meaningful way, to add instead of substract. These are transcending human endeavours. Status, power, money; just side-effects to the medicin that is purpose.

Even you've had a reason for pushing yourself to create. Perhaps it was that in the back of your mind you believed that you deserved to live a better lifestyle. It's your vision of the future that moves you to act. The belief that things can be different, and that you are able to effect that difference. Having a why isn't important? Having a why is the goal.

[true_religion]

It's interesting that you use the word transcend. I believe its 100% appropriate in this case.

Money, power, passion, and status are wholly human motivations available to anyone. The desire for beauty for the sake of beauty really does transcend the far more practical goals of majority of people, and places as an ideal something completely abstract.

Now, I wouldn't call it "true" motivation because that'd lead us down the angle of a "no true scotsman" discussion.