Work & Money

Before I get into this, a little small yet extremely large significant change is coming to this blog. Scrap the whole book idea and layout of how I was going to talk about things. The core of the blog, however, will remain the same. That means I will continue to talk about how I view things. I don't think anyone has really read this yet anyway so keeping it more or less like a journal makes sense anyway. Except it won't be like a journal because I'm trying to talk about universal ideas and how I view them, not participate in some narcissistic online soapbox where I talk about "ohhh I really wish Susie liked me" or "ohhh my dog died". Who cares? No one. Anyway, on to the rest of this. Vamos!


I suppose the best way I can describe work and money is that they are evil. I am talking about school work (the worst kind) and a job/professional work. I am not talking about work that has a purpose. Before you start spitting and yelling, throwing your arms out saying "wha-wha-what?! work has a purpose blah blah blah", hear me out first.

So, there are two types of work: Work that has a purpose and work that does not. You might say, "well we work to be productive and contribute to society and so we can pay the bills".

Ok, now first of all, productivity is a huge problem all over the world (source: me) so don't try to pretend that you are this amazing person because working makes you feel productive. Second, you are probably not contributing to society with what you are doing.

Contributing to society = being a firefighter, a volunteer, a policeman, a postman, a doctor/nurse/something that helps people, a scientist, an environmentalist, a soldier, a good parent (think about it... its almost the best way actually)

Not contributing to society = finance, marketing, anything with computers, spreadsheets, balance sheets and accounting in general, almost anything (with some exceptions) where you work at a desk sitting front of numbers on a computer screen.

Sure, you are contributing to your company and your company may contribute to society by providing goods or services, but you are not contributing to that you are just contributing to your company. Without you your company couldn't contribute, sure, but who thinks like that anyway unless they are full of themselves?

Third, paying the bills. Ok, you got me. Unless you are lucky and are an heir/heiress to some family fortune, you need money just like everybody else in this world (mostly for the wrong reasons). But it doesn't make the point any less significant that money is evil. It drives people in the wrong ways more then it drives them in the right ways, and because of it this world is so corrupt it is unsettling.

I've always wished I could have lived before the age of electricity, even though I have an unhealthy obsession with the internet and video games, I think much simpler times would suit the kind of person I am... I often wish I could be reincarnated into a farmer in some remote place so I can do my work, see the merit in it right there as I am growing things and adding to the food supply. It's all right there, the results are simple and obvious. Simplicity. Simplicity is always the best course of action. Don't believe me? Consider this.

Let's go back to your extra super secret important oh so purposeful desk job environment for a second. Your boss gives you and your co-worker the same assignment. He wants you to come up with a budgeting plan for next year. A few days later you and your co-worker both present your idea to the boss. By some stroke of luck or something, you both essentially come up with the same idea. But, yours would take a lot longer and involves way more processes then your peers does. Basically, his is more simple and does the same thing. The winner? Not you. Him. He gets a raise potentially too and now you don't. Sorry.

Think of it this way, people always talk about how their Hondas last for years and years without getting fixed. While Mercedes owners warn people of the daunting repairs they have had to made over the years. Why? Hondas are built more simply then Mercedes. Are they as good? maybe not, i'm sure given the choice straight up people would pick a benz over a honda, but that isn't the point. The point is is simple. Simple gets the point across. Simple gets things done. Why go to A to B to C to D to E to F when you can just go to A to F? It's about efficiency too in that sense.

Simple and efficient. They are the two key words to work, and yet work is just littered with so much bullshit you kind of forget what the hell you are doing any of it for anyway. It becomes about the paycheck, and that simply is just not right. A paycheck should be something to compensate you for doing something of value, not something that is the focus of the employee from the beginning.

I know I still haven't talked about why this has a purpose or doesn't or whatever I started talking about in the first place, but forget that and focus with me now...

Think about it this way, as I was saying with the working for a paycheck... Think of a painter. Actually think of two painters.

Painter A is a great painter, he often likes to sit on park benches and just take everything in, the sights, the people, nature and the world itself. He enjoys it so much that he loves to recreate what he feels when he is immersed in nature, and so he carefully and diligently works on his paintings, trying to convey the beauty of the world that he sees with his eyes onto a canvas. The result are these absolutely breathtaking paintings. His paintings are so great that people instantly pay money for his works(and a lot at that)even though he simply states that "donations are appreciated" when he puts them on display.

Painter B is a great painter, but he is actually more interested in the ocean. He often paints coasts and oceans because he likes them so much, but painting the ocean is much different then actually learning about it. But, alas, at a young age his teachers (either evil or good people, more on that later, or another post, this already getting long) and parents noticed he could paint and draw much better then anyone in his class and at such a young age. So he was encouraged and pushed to paint. He would much rather be learning about the ocean, but he realizes he can make money painting, so he does it. His paintings are good, but they are almost too technical in a way, almost have a forced feel to them... People pay lots of money for these paintings as well, and he knows that and that is why he paints.

See what I mean about purpose now? Which of those scenarios would you say contains the work which holds purpose?

We all have heard "do something you love..." but we also know we have heard "if you do that you'll never make any money"

And to me, this is one of the most depressing realities ever; to know that people often give up, forget, or limit their passion for something because someone said that they wouldn't get very far with it. To know that people willingly just drop their dreams for a more secure and lower risk career path.

I have always believed that nothing is worth doing unless you do it well, otherwise you are just wasting your time. But I also believe that you can't do something well unless you believe in what you are doing and you are passionate about what you are doing.

I know we all can't be painters, actors, professional athletes, whatever it is that might have been our dream before "reality" set in. But do we really need so many accountants? Do we really need all these people, around offices internationally, that are simply working to make money? That is what business is, isn't it? If you don't make money, you aren't in business, and if you still are in business chances are you will get bought out by someone that does have money.

But it is all about purpose... I know I keep knocking jobs that fall into the business arena, such as accounting and such, and for that I am sorry. I know (ohhh do I know) that God did not put me (or if you are of the believing type, I know that my genetic code and brain cell connector fireing-hicka-ma-jigger-thingys are not configured in such a way) here to be an accountant.

BUT! If that is your passion, and you feel that that work has purpose to you, then by all means, please!

I think that in a hypothetical world where money was not an issue but for some unknown reason we still had a work and purpose for work, the variety of jobs out there would be more even then they are. And what I mean by that is more people doing what they were meant to do. And I think when we look deep down inside, and we tell ourselves honestly without trying to convince ourselves otherwise, we all know what it is that we should be doing.

Please, if you are still in school, it is not too late for you. It isn't even too late for me, but I am getting close to missing the proverbial boat of opportunity, being a one more semester left college student. Actually, forget that, if you think you have already missed your boat it's ok, we live in modern ages we can arrange a helicopter ride to fly out and land on the boat for you.

To sum it all up, I just want to put it this way. Do what you love to do, and even if you aren't able to do it for a living, at least try. Just try. If it doesn't work out, then at least you can say you honestly tried. And don't just go try and be an actor if you know you suck at it. Sorry, that's just how life is sometimes. We can't be good at everything, but everyone is good at something. Do something that has meaning and purpose for you, and gives you satisfaction.

I know I didn't get to talk about how school fits into all this, but I'm actually glad I don't get to talk about that now. Avoiding the fact spared me a large headache and much frustration and anger thinking back to those terrible terrible years. Maybe I'll save that for another time when I really am just pissed off and have to just chew out the education system.