If i am going to make the distinction, “Work.Life”, first i must ask…
What does life mean for me?
It means many things, and one of them is a lifelong passion i’ve held about cultures and people.
I’ve had a spark in me since early childhood about learning about different peoples and cultures. And i can imagine that that doesn’t sound very intriguing. But the image i’m thinking of when i say “peoples and cultures”, is one of magic and mystery.
I remember i was so interested in the creatures of Harry Potter, for example. I had drawn an Ogre on the wall of my childhood room, my first ever room, with my father’s help. The ogre had a vest, it was huge, and it had a club.
So I knew that Ogres have clubs and they are big, and they sort of have their own language. I also knew that they came from the woods, from the forests of the magical world of HP. They live solitary lives and are not like humans. They can occasionally come wandering in to the lands of the humans, but usually they wander about in the open free lands.
This is a fascination with culture and people. Even though an ogre is not a real person, it has a fictional story and character. I was always interested in these stories.
A few years later, i found myself very interested in Japan.
This happened because of the movies of Hayao Miyazaki. I watched my first Miyazaki movie at age 6. It changed everything for me.
Soon, i found myself reading up on Japanese lifestyle on the internet.
I was reading about their writing, how it went from the top to the bottom. I was reading about their food, the fish they eat, the sushi, the sardines… I was reading about the Sumo and their intricate traditions. It was all extremely fascinating to me.
Soon after, at around age 7, I met the world of the Hobbit, and through that, the doors of North European mythology and religions, its vast and magical cultures opened up in front of me.
I just kept being interested in people and their ways of life, in their stories. This is one facet of life that keeps feeding my soul. I wouldn’t be able to live without it.
What is work then?
Work seems to be the field i am employed in, currently.
And why am i writing about Work.Life?
I realize that there always might be a Work=Job in my life.
Job will always create me some work, which will require a balance with the Life. Work.Life…
I realize I will always have the burning passions i mentioned in the last part about Life, and that there will always be a Work standing in stark contrast to the winds of Life. How will they coexist? As long as i live, they will have to coexist, as one cannot be snuffed out.
But what am i thinking… Will there always be a Work? Will work always be in stark contrast to Life? It all goes away if you quit a job. You don’t have to live a life of employment… And also, Work doesn’t always “stand in stark contrast to Life”, sometimes Work comes from Life, it helps Life!
The reason i am so bummed out right now, is that the Work i am currently engaged in comes from my Job. It is taking up all my time, and there is left absolutely no time for the Work of Life. I cannot spend a minute for the passions i described in the previous chapter. But it doesn’t have to always be like this. Even though continuing the Job is my plan for the foreseeable future, I really would like some more extra time for the Work of Life. I just want some more time on my personal projects. Maybe there will come a day when my Job comes from the Work…
Anyways, I am just here to say that I realize Life and Life’s Work doesn’t have to be pushed out in favor of a Job or in favor of Work in general. I realize that doing the Work of Life can only help you in your Job, too.
I see people online and i look at their Lives and their Work and their Jobs. I realize they are all unique, they all have their own interests and personalities and most of the time i can easily see how their Jobs are shaped around those interests and personalities. Sometimes they don’t look appealing. It feels like the Jobs and Work they’ve chosen is not making them happy. It’s hard to see an ounce of interest they have for their Job or Work. And sometimes it’s easily visible, how they are teeming with joy and interest for their Job and Work.
And additionally, for all of these people, it’s easy to see the traces of their unique Life. Whether they be unhappy about their Job or knotted with their Work, you can see what makes them unique outside of those Jobs: sometimes it’s their religion and religious Life, sometimes it’s the way they dress, how they adorn that Life, sometimes it’s their smile, sometimes it’s their enthusiasm.
And when i see this i realize, that Life is always at the heart of everything we do. Your passions and character peek out of the corners whether you realize or not.
These passions don’t go away and don’t take away anything from you or your capabilites either. They are here to stay, and they are important for your wellbeing, for curating your existence. So don’t be afraid, you won’t lose anything by pushing for your passion project. Anything you stand to lose might not be as important as the project… Since those passions are what define you, they are what comes from within. They were here with you before any Job came to take their place. So spend time on that passion project, since that passion project is YOU. By tending to the work that those passions ask for, you are caring for the things that make you who you are.
Some concrete resolutions
What does all this mean for me?
this means that as much as i love my Job right now i will somehow find a way of pushing really hard for the bards project.
i will fall in love over and over again with the books that made me who i am.
i will spend time in introspection.
every minute i spent writing this article, is a minute i stole from company time…
and these minutes are making me who i am.
i owe so much to this article, i know this already.
i don’t know what the future holds, because i literally have to risk not doing what i’m paid to do to follow the things i want to do, and let’s see what this risky business will have in store for me.
one key thing is that i know that i can be of great benefit for the company with any amount of time i put into it. stealing an hour from work time does not limit my output. i can still abundantly create for the company.
maybe this realization, that we don’t need to be exploitative to get good work from someone…
i will think this way and live this way: i don’t have to sacrifice from myself to create meaningful work for a job. any job that demands this of me is doomed to fail, as it would be stealing from my Self.
Giray's Sandal 