centre of the universe

Work OR Play?

Here’s another thing I don’t get (welcome to cenobyte’s week of mundane revelations): why do folks choose careers they don’t like?

Why does it take some guy in a three-thousand dollar suit to tell you to build on your strengths rather than trying to repair your weaknesses?

There are times when you have to take a job in order to make ends meet. Jobs and careers are different…at least, *I* think so. But what really gets me is people who tell me they hate their jobs…folks who are worse off at the end of every day than they were at the beginning of the day. And we are blessed when we find a career that embiggens us. Right?

I love my job. There are times when it is incredibly frustrating, and there are times when I avoid doing what needs to be done. And this is something I don’t do very often on my bournal: I rarely talk about my job or my work. Mostly, it doesn’t make me comfortable to talk about my career…the actual stuff I do for which I get paid every day. I’m not the sort of person who staunchly draws a line between work life and private life…which is to say, pretty much everyone at my office has met most of my friends, and my co-workers (and some of my board members) have been to my house on more than one occasion. But, and this is going to sound a little weird, even though some of the people I work with do read me, I consider my bournal to be more on the ‘private’ side of things. Wow. That *is* weird, since this is, inherently, a public forum. Anyway…sorry for the siderail there.

I love my job, and I love my career. I am a writer and an editor, and I get to work with book publishers. That is both what I love to do, and what I *do* do. There are days, like when I’ve let the bookkeeping slip behind, or when we have six different places to be and only two people to be there, or when things aren’t going smootly with our grant applications and reports….those are the times when I want to get in to the office late and leave early. Those are the days I’d rather just cuddle on the couch with The Captain and Sneepy (Yet Another Thing We Call The Nipper).

And there are days when I seriously think about not working in an office anymore and opening a daycare in my home.

But who doesn’t? Loving what you do doesn’t mean you don’t have wonky days. Of *COURSE* you’ll have wonky days. I don’t think I would stay in a career I wasn’t passionate about, honestly. It might mean I’d have to rethink where I live or what I drive or the bad habit I have of buying things at Paderno. But if I was going home angry and stressed every day, every *single day*, I’d be seriosly rethinking my career choice.

On an utterly unrelated note, my bad cat has taken to playing piano.

Posted

in

by

cenobyte

Tags:

Comments

5 responses to “Work OR Play?”

  1. neuba Avatar
    neuba

    I’ve always mixed business and pleasure. I love to socialize with my co-workers on and off the job. They become an important part of my life, simply by the fact that I often spend more time with them than I do my own husband. Therefore, why wouldn’t I want to share my life with my fellow co-workers.As for working in a job/career you don’t like – I don’t get it either. I’ve always been passionate about my work, and therefore, sought out careers which I enjoy, provide fulfillment and challenge me. I know I’m a smart, but it took me some time to figure this one out…not everyone is like that. Not everyone desires to ‘do better’, ‘excel’, ‘challenge oneself’, ‘find work they REALLY like.’ Perhaps they lack the confidence and/or motivation, or perhaps they don’t have the luxury to venture out because of a personal financial situation or they’re supporting a family. But then I say, what’s the point!? Doesn’t everyone want to try to maximize their enjoyment and happiness during their lifetime? And since you spend a good portion of your life at work, why would you accept anything less than something you like/love to do!?That’s my take on it!

    Reply
  2. Aelius Avatar
    Aelius

    “If I advance any higher, this would be my career. And if this were my career, I’d have to throw myself in front of a train.”~Jim Halpert, The Office

    Reply
  3. Parmeisan Avatar
    Parmeisan

    I’ve recently become a little enlightened on this front. I went to school for something I loved; I worked for several years at something I loved; I found a permanent position doing something that I knew I *liked* with benefits, more cash… and more importantly, again, permanent, so that I could finally look into things like getting a house. So, I switched jobs. And discovered that, compared to what I used to do, this stuff is now drudgery. I am nearly always bored at work. I plan to get out, but when? Do I really plan to move to Vancouver where all the jobs I want are? Do I really plan to move to something less well-paying before we’ve gotten a good chunk of a mortgage paid? And five years down the road when this is all I’ve done for five years, will I really find the motivation to quit? I’m quite concerned that I won’t, but the reasons to stay far outweigh the reasons to quit, for now. As long as it’s only temporary, there’s no reason not to endure, but… how temporary will it be?I think probably something similar happens to people who get into something thinking they will like it, and get bored of it, or don’t really see what it’s *really* like for several years. By that point they feel like they’ve invested too much to quit. I went to school with several people who had worked 10+ years in the wrong field, but nobody who had for only 2 or 5. Interesting, no? But the vast majority just keep doing what they’ve done every day. “Until I am financially stable”, “until the kids graduate”, until it’s, “until I retire”.I really, really hope I don’t fall into that, but I’m occasionally very afraid that I already have.

    Reply
  4. brielle128 Avatar
    brielle128

    I love what I do. I am once again able to stand in front a room of teenagers and challenge them to test life. Nothing is better than that. Well except being a mom and I get to do that when I get home. p.s. I heard you today C3n0. And it was cool. First time ever…and you sounded pretty much exactly like you write here. Minus the f-bombs, but thats understandable. :) You made my day.

    Reply
  5. cenobyte Avatar
    cenobyte

    I think this is something unique to this generation, really. Eve folks our parents’ age were, for the most part, people who stayed in the job they’d had for decades because it was their job. You know what I mean?There weren’t a whole lot of people my parents’ age changing careers; they just kept going on and being miserable. I knew people who had relatively good jobs…jobs that kept them and their families in the upper middle class of our little society. But they were angry, bitter people. I’m sure they had other things going on in their lives; at least, I would hope so, but to me, even as a little kid, it was obvious that the mornings before work each day were awful. I remember friends of mine going through university, discovering, like you said, Parmeisan, that he wasn’t entirley fond of his chosen career. So he quit (this was before he had kids, but he was married and had a mortgage) his job and did something completely different. His parents were mortified, but his friends all kind of understood.You know? My mum and dad each had about four jobs before they started their careers. I had many, many more than that. Plus, having a University degree now is a hell of a lot different from what it was when my mum and da were my age. ?The equivalent for them probably would have been having a high school certificate.

    Reply

i make squee noises when you tell me stuff.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.