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A Vow to Never Work!
Don’t misunderstand. I spent a lot of years working hard, starting at age 16: I was a counter girl at a dry-cleaning shop. Later, I worked as a teller in a bank, then in new accounts, then a new accounts supervisor, and finally, a true triumph, assistant bank manager. (It was actually a savings and loan, but does anyone remember those?) Anyway, they were all ok jobs, barely paying the bills.
Then I worked hard at getting my degrees; my B.A. was a little delayed and then an M.A., which I mainly got because I needed the credibility for the work I wanted to do. But I actually very much enjoyed the learning process and became a consultant for 20 years.
But it wasn’t until I retired that I realized that work didn’t have to be work.
I found that I was perfectly capable of working without the “Maynard G. Krebs fear of work” when I loved what I was doing. Don’t misunderstand. I loved my consulting work, especially when I helped people work through conflict. But I love the work I do now, because of a number of factors:
- I am choosing what I do. No one assigns, demands, or expects work of me, and I can do whatever I want without getting permission or anyone’s blessing.
- I can work whenever I want. If I want to work at 5:30 a.m. or midnight (well, those times are unlikely because I’d fall asleep in the middle of the task), I can opt for those times. I can decide to skip a task because I’m just not into it, or work for hours without stopping because I’m so delightfully engaged with it.
- I can change the focus of my work. (Of course, if I’m partnering, it needs to be a joint decision, but no client or supervisor has a say.) Changing direction can lead into wildly creative directions, and be both terrifying and exciting. (I prefer the latter in place of the former, but sometimes I don’t have a choice.)
- I can ask for feedback or not. If it’s a deeply personal project, or a post for Ricochet, I only rarely ask for input. And when I do, it’s to have input about my clarity or approach.
I could probably list many more factors about loving my “work,” but you hopefully get the idea. What is all this work I’m doing? A good part of it is my Jewish studies; deciding what to study, how far to go, and who to study with are all up to me. And it almost never feels like work. (I say almost because learning some of the prayers in Hebrew has been a challenge.)
The other activity I’m indulging in is writing. Almost anything I work on feels like a spiritual act, like serving others, like exploring my soul to see what it will reveal.
Most of all, it feels like serving G-d. To be able to serve Him in this way is deeply rewarding.
And it never feels like work.
[I misidentified the Kreb’s fear and have corrected it, thanks to @hoyacon and @seawriter.]
Published in General
The one thing I learned about myself from work those early years was I do not want any job where I have to interface with the public. For example, I could flip burgers at McDonald’s, but could never be a cashier.
This came about mainly from the way some customers treat the people who serve them – either with a slight disdain (we’re strangers, after all) or outright contempt. This is why I go out of my way to treat waitresses, bank tellers, cashiers, etc. with niceness and respect.
Work!
Indeed!!!
Replaced above. More work!
Hahaha!!! I forgot that one!! Thanks for the laughter! 🤣
I’ve corrected the OP accordingly!
Nice work!
This post is part of our Group Writing Series under the March 2020 Group Writing Theme: “Working.” There are plenty of open days, so get busy and work it! Stop by and sign up now.
Interested in Group Writing topics that came before? See the handy compendium of monthly themes. Check out links in the Group Writing Group. You can also join the group to get a notification when a new monthly theme is posted.
I learned I never want to do anything that involves sales. The opposite of selling ice to Eskimos, I couldn’t sell water in the desert, I spent most of my career working with perfectly logical computers.