A topic I have been hanging out to post on... here it is finally!!!
Employment:
A job... a way to bring in the income... something to do with your day... a contract that involves money for labour.
Vocation:
The thing which you are gifted to do... your calling in life.
Of particular interest to me lately, has been the idea of reinventing what it means for men to be working and 'gainfully employed'. I feel as though there has been a women's liberation movement that has freed women from many unhelpful expectations and constraints... but so many men still feel trapped and obligated to spend their 9 till 5 labouring blindly for someone else's vision.
Of course the principle is true "if you don't work, you don't eat"...
But could it be possible to re-difine our concept of "quality of life" to allow us more liberty to be creative, relational, and inspired? Do we need to continue to slave for other people's purposes five days a week or more, or is it possible to dream into being, a way of life that ballances labour with love.
For me, this would mean working two or three days a week... and then investing the other time into a vegetable garden, a pottery kiln and studio, time to learn and create music, and to appreciate the arts and nature... to be a whole, ballanced, spiritual creature... and not just a beast of burden.
What would it be for you?
What are your dreams and passions?
Do you dare to imagine that we could put enough pressure on our society to change the way that employment and vocation are considered in the mainstream?
Might it be possible to pioneer companies and businesses that use split-shifts to empower people to invest into their true vocation?
Monday, February 12, 2007
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7 comments:
mmm, very interesting. I do have a question for you though. To what extent does the desire to break away from the monotony of a 9-5/5 days a week type arrangement need to be balanced with the requirement for society to continue to function. The floors still need to be cleaned, the food still needs to be grown/killed. And while I realize that the balance is currently skewed in the opposite direction, that's perhaps something to take into account
And the other niggling little devils advocate query is to question how much of the desire to do whatever you want for most of the week comes just from the post-modern mindset, that whatever works for you is fine (and the inherent "who cares what that means for anyone else")
Not that I think either of these things dismiss your concepts at all, I'm really just a full-time working hack trying to justify his existence to himself. :)
Yeah and I'm trying to be a revolutionary student with crazy life changing ideas... but really I'm just an overqualified grape snipper-plucker-outerer.
Can I question the question? What does society really need to continue to function? If that 'functioning' is unsustainable... wouldn't it be better to find new ways of 'functioning' that are more sustainable? I suspect that means a lot less bulk produce and big business, and a lot more co-ops and home growns.
If I was trying to be an overly fluffy arts-head and not make a sustainable living out of stuff... then the post-modern question would be a clincher. For all that I am interested in artistic pottery, I am far more interested in beautiful functional pottery. There's something wonderful about having your cuttlery made from the local earth.
If more people were finding creative+functional vocation, there would be less demand for industrial employment... and far more beauty. I'll trade you some great plates and bowls in exchange for configuring my router.
Its easy to talk about these ideas... but I want to resource myself to a point were I can DO them instead. Hmmm
:)
haha its called "Amway"
www.a2k.com
To HELL with that!
What would it mean for me?
It would mean...
Having a very small case load (opposed to a full case load) as an independent midwife.... I would still be on call 24/7 but for a smaller number of women.
Growing heirloom varieties of vegetables.
Delving into henna tattooing. Mixing, applying and drawing patterns.
Reading, journaling, writing, poetry.
Spending time with my Grandmother.
Being outside... hiking, rock climbing.
... the list could go on and on.
Mmmmm Grandmothers are awesome!
You should come and bake cookies with my grandmother sometime... she makes the coolest biscuits in the universe. I'm not biased.
I just got paid to walk around the prom for 4 days with a great bunch of boys. Its hard to believe it's really working. I would have earned my money if something went wrong... but nothing went wrong! I just have sore bum and knee muscles from walking down big rocky steps and across stand. Diddums eh!
More thoughts to come on this topic
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