Responding to a Comment

Replying to a comment on "Lifestyles, Money, Isseki".... whoever that mysterious commenter is - yes indeed perhaps I phrased Isseki and discussions of money wrongly... perhaps what I meant in that post was the importance money in allowing us to devote ourselves to something full-time.

And the question it raises is not so much would I be able to live on very little money; but in recognising money's power in allowing one to follow one's dreams - would I be prepared to spend eight hours of my day, every day, working a job that is mundane and tedious and downright dull just to live eight hours a day doing what I love? To risk losing half of your day like that... to spend hours of time flipping hamburgers, answering phones, putting little pieces of icing onto christmas cakes on a factory belt. That, to me seems a very big risk. Time and life is so valuable. And I do see that I am making a horrible judgement about the nature of most 'part-time' work; of course satisfaction can be found in it, of course it is a luxurious position to be able to make a choice to participate in it or not, and of course my judgements are based purely on my own experience of part time work, and the gut wrenchingly instant dread that the idea of spending the rest of my life engaged in some of the jobs that I've previously done while simultaneously juggling another full time job raises in me.

I suppose, selfish person that I am, one of my greatest desires is to be able to be paid to follow something that I, if not love, than at least enjoy doing. And to be able to commit to that with the energy of someone who has not just come from another eight hour shift. In fact, when it comes down to it, I don't think that should be a luxury confined to just selfish people like me. It seems close to how I would hope work could be viewed for everyone - enormous generalist and idealist that I am. To risk time and parts of my life in doing something that I don't enjoy, not just for a few years, but for the rest of my life, does seem an enormous risk. And one I am not sure I'm prepared to take.