Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Wednesday, 4/7/10 - Work


Take a good look at this picture.



Do you see the man in the boat in the upper left-hand portion of the image?

No?

Hmmmmmm...

Wait a second.


Let me zoom in for you.



Is that better?

It is a warm, calm morning. What little fog there is is being turned to gold by the rising sun. It is quiet. Everything is peaceful. Birds sing in the background.

Add to this one lucky fisherman lazing in his boat.

I wrote a story a couple of years ago called Dance. In that story I talked about a time when I worked three jobs so that I could afford to go to computer school.

As I look at myself now, I realize that I am working three jobs so that I can drop out.

--> insert a rattling shake of the head here <--

What? Working three jobs to drop out? Isn't dropping out just, well, just dropping everything and doing nothing?

Ahhh, if it were only that easy...

... it would be boring.

No, to successfully drop out, you need to work very hard.

I took these pictures before 7am. That means that this lazy fisherman had to get up very early, pack his gear, load the boat, trailer the boat to the boat ramp, back it into the water, get out of the truck, float the boat off of the trailer, tie it up on the dock, get back into the truck, park it, carry all of his gear to the boat, get in and then...

after all of that

... he could finally relax and fish.

Yes, the book I write will be about dropping out but it will not be about quitting.

It will be about taking it easy but it will not be about taking the easy road.

It will be about giving up work but not by giving up.

It will be about stopping your quest for happiness long enough to actually be happy.

But, mostly, it will be about changing our perspectives on work.

To quote a friend (who was probably quoting someone else), "Do what you love to do and you will never work a day in your life."

1 comment:

  1. Man, do the pictures ever make a difference! I looked at your blog earlier, and the pictures were not there. The words were, as always, awesome, but without the pictures, they lacked the impact. I'd like to read "Dance" one of these days. I too had three jobs for years, trying to support my family on a teacher's salary.

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