“Just a good place to be”: materiality, experience and the construction of a meaningful sense of self

Purpose This study examines how meaningful work emerges through material and embodied engagement, arguing that the meaningful self is brought into being through work, rather than work merely reflecting a pre-existing self. We argue that materiality mediates between meaningful experiences and the meaningful self: through concrete interactions with bodies, objects and environments, fleeting experiences of meaningfulness are conditioned, recalibrated and gatekept, shaping enduring senses of self. Using a donkey sanctuary as a case, we explore how materiality shapes both meaningful experiences and the construction of a meaningful sense of self. Design/methodology/approach We draw on “events of significance” as a methodological and conceptual tool to capture moments when meaningfulness unfolds through material engagement. These events allow us to trace how meaningful experiences are mediated through material practices and incorporated into a meaningful sense of self. This framework is applied to ethnographic research at a Dutch donkey sanctuary. Findings Caretakers described meaningfulness as experiencing the sanctuary as “just a good place to be.” Materiality mediates this process in three interrelated ways: conditioning routines and practices, recalibrating ethical and value priorities, and gatekeeping participation by shaping who can meaningfully inhabit the sanctuary's culture. “Good” captures a materially grounded prioritization of hands-on animal care, pragmatism and ethical commitment, while “being” reflects caretakers' ongoing engagement with discomfort, dirty tasks and relational practices. Through these embodied engagements, meaningful experiences are transformed into a durable sense of who one is, demonstrating that the meaningful self emerges directly through doing. Originality/value This paper extends scholarship on meaningful work by theorizing materiality as the mediator between meaningful experience and the meaningful self. Drawing on the notion of events of significance, we show how ordinary objects, spaces and bodily practices anchor, stabilize and transform experience into a sense of a meaningful self. This illustrates how meaningful experiences can transform this sense of self, showing that work is not merely expressive of the sense of self but also constitutive of it.