Making your bed and lying in it
A sixty to eighty hour work week is difficult. There are protracted hours of a single task. If you are among the lucky few you are given enough time outside of your duties to indulge yourself. However, given the nature of a sixty plus hour work week it is unlikely that on will be working simply for the sake of working. Is it the exertion of a long week that makes things difficult? Not especially, many people who work such hours are dealing with largely academic affairs. Lawyers, for instance, are not known for heavy lifting or long periods of physical activity. Sleep deprivation may certainly play a part in this but even with an eight hour work week spread amongst seven days there is still enough time to get a full eight hours of sleep.
What I think really grates on a person in these times is the seeming lack of choice. One is bound by economic pressures to be there whether one wishes to be or not. We are stripped temporarily of the ability to determine our own destinies. We are trapped and held hostage by our paychecks. Or so we would have ourselves believe. We are always given a choice. We could simply walk away and say that we refuse to work any more than an eight hour day. Or ever again for that matter. Who is prepared to deal with those consequences?
Humans despair at being trapped physically, emotionally and mentally. We rail against our captors and fight the bonds that hold us. Our very beings yearn to be free. Social interaction is cut short in a way our human pack animal instincts detest. The human experience is meant to be shared. The greatest authors knew this and sought to put the human condition to paper so that it may be shared with all. Better still are plays and films which share by showing. The communication takes on a literal aspect as the actors immerse themselves in roles and give the audience a performance.
What does any of this have to do with anything? I have taken on a sixty hour work week. Nothing I am unprepared for and certainly something my bank account could use. I have made my bed. At the same time I have been actively searching for a social life and have found a new friend. It is the nature of human beings to indulge in the new and abandon past distractions. Such it is with friends. I find myself wishing to discover all there is to know about a new friend as I find one. How very interesting it is that on the week where socializing is the most difficult that I seek it out the most. I find as I work my long hours I wish to cut them short so that I can spend my time in a more social manner.
There are several options available to me. Reduce my work hours, or even quit, in an effort to have a social life is certainly one of them. Have a social life outside of work hours at the expense of sleep and sanity is the other obvious choice. Given that I feel compelled to keep my word and the crush of financial strain, I believe we can all figure out what choice I have made. I have made my bed. Now I must lie in it.
What I think really grates on a person in these times is the seeming lack of choice. One is bound by economic pressures to be there whether one wishes to be or not. We are stripped temporarily of the ability to determine our own destinies. We are trapped and held hostage by our paychecks. Or so we would have ourselves believe. We are always given a choice. We could simply walk away and say that we refuse to work any more than an eight hour day. Or ever again for that matter. Who is prepared to deal with those consequences?
Humans despair at being trapped physically, emotionally and mentally. We rail against our captors and fight the bonds that hold us. Our very beings yearn to be free. Social interaction is cut short in a way our human pack animal instincts detest. The human experience is meant to be shared. The greatest authors knew this and sought to put the human condition to paper so that it may be shared with all. Better still are plays and films which share by showing. The communication takes on a literal aspect as the actors immerse themselves in roles and give the audience a performance.
What does any of this have to do with anything? I have taken on a sixty hour work week. Nothing I am unprepared for and certainly something my bank account could use. I have made my bed. At the same time I have been actively searching for a social life and have found a new friend. It is the nature of human beings to indulge in the new and abandon past distractions. Such it is with friends. I find myself wishing to discover all there is to know about a new friend as I find one. How very interesting it is that on the week where socializing is the most difficult that I seek it out the most. I find as I work my long hours I wish to cut them short so that I can spend my time in a more social manner.
There are several options available to me. Reduce my work hours, or even quit, in an effort to have a social life is certainly one of them. Have a social life outside of work hours at the expense of sleep and sanity is the other obvious choice. Given that I feel compelled to keep my word and the crush of financial strain, I believe we can all figure out what choice I have made. I have made my bed. Now I must lie in it.