Exercise from “designing your life”.
Why work?
I like the practice of refining things through work. Finding a particular thing to focus on each day. Working with other people towards a common goal and accomplishing it.
I have had a recurring thought about work which is it's not what you're doing in the proverbial mine, but who you're in the mine with.
You could be doing any sort of work with the right people and attitude and it can be enjoyable.
It is only possible to truly relax at the end of the day if you have done some good work. Otherwise what are you relaxing from?
It is important to have the balance, time on and time off. When the two blend and intermingle too far it becomes hard to keep track of when you are moving forward. (I say this having spent a lot of time freelancing and not setting boundaries well)
It is important to keep moving things forward. The forces of the universe keep the world spinning and fire ants keep collecting dirt for their ant hill and weeds keep breaking concrete in search of the sun and it is part of my job as a living being to play my part in that somehow.
Work helps me find the frequency at which I can harmonize with the cacophony.
What’s work for?
Work is for focus. Finding a task that the world values so much they will give you money for it.
To really understand what they value in you and to give it to them.
To take that time to refine and perfect what you do so that your value increases.
To bring people together to make things bigger than themselves. Bound by some sense of unity or shared goal or at least a desire to get paid. But people can do amazing things in the right combinations, amplifying each other's skills. Those combinations don't always occur naturally. They needed to be assembled (salary budgets and recruiting can help that).
What does work mean?
Work is time spent on an activity that others value or that directly propels you forward as a human creature. Chopping wood, pulling weeds, cooking food.
I think a lot about traveling and offering to make little 30 second commercials for YouTube for small businesses in exchange for dinner or an oil change. Or learning to paint signs and trading them to a grocery store in exchange for dinner.
What does money have to do with it?
I think the goal is to make as much money possible while maintaining a good, pleasurable life. Enough money to not have to think about money. To not have money as either an obstacle or an object of desire. To move through the world with other goals and thoughts.
Why are we here?
I think we are one united disparate organism. (I couldn’t nail down the details for you).
As Melissa Broder said: ”My god is a horizontal god who works sideways on earth rather than vertically from heaven down.”
I think the point of life is to serve those most close to you, spiraling outwards.
At the core to care for ones self. To create things and make the world better.
To care for a significant other, to support them and enable their dreams and grow together.
To form a family. A unit, a team. To support each other and build together.
Beyond that, to be part of and serve a community. To build shared places to relax and play and create. To help those who have not been given as much. To do unto others what you wished others had done unto you.
Moments of peace and contemplation after having completed something.
What is the meaning or purpose of life?
I love to unclog things. To find places of strain or abandonment that just need a little focused attention. I like to spend time on things that have a large investment for little time. To try and do as much as possible in this life- both pleasure and accomplishment.
The purpose of life is to find your place, a rhythm you can keep and coexist with the forces of your environment. To bend like a sapling and not break like rusted metal. To make everyone around you as happy and "good" as possible.
To right wrongs and seek justice.
To love others without compromise or hesitation.