What's Wrong with Work?

Last Monday soon, after I arrived at work, I experienced some classic migraine symptoms - flashing zigzag lights, and photo phobia - but weirdly, without the throbbing headache (believe me, I'm not complaining).  My GP says no one really knows the cause of migraines. But still. Work stress, I am wondering...

Why write about work in the holidays? Well, I guess its that time of year, when we take some perspective on things. and a big part of 'things' is work. Its what we do, literally. But work is a difficult topic to write about, because if you are employed by an organisation, big or small, there are restrictions on what you can express in the public domain.

Some are stricter than others. In The Undesirables, Mark Isaacs describes working on Nauru's (really, Australia's) offshore detention centre, as an untrained, and totally unprepared, young employee of the Salvation Army. The work contract included the threat of being sacked if there was any 'leakage' of information about the appalling conditions for asylum seekers on Nauru, created by the Australian government. Isaacs no longer works on Nauru, and the Salvation Army no longer work there either. Which proves the point, from both sides, really.

In my case, work is not so draconian, but it is challenging. I took on full-time work this year, after two years of full-time Social Work study. My aim in studying was to get Mental Health Social Worker status, which I now have, and which enables me to work in private practice. And not be a full-time employee.

So, what was I thinking? Well, its easy to get into these kind of situations. When there is no one else in the immediate family with a permanent job, for example. These are the conditions we are living in* at the moment. Threatened and real redundancies, and rising unemployment, create an atmosphere of work status anxiety.

It takes courage to leave a job because the conditions are bad, or the system is screwed (and the 'system' could be the Public Service, or a 'not for profit'). Especially if you believe in what the system is trying to achieve, overall.  But I think it also takes courage and resilience to stay in a job where the conditions are bad, or the system is screwed - let's face it, we don't all have the luxury of acting on our principles, all of the time.

These two collages are called 'problems' and 'solutions', respectively. In the first one, things are out of kilter, fake, and there are chaotic, juxtaposed elements that don't make sense. In the second, there is greater coherence, respect for traditional knowledge, and living in harmony with nature. The real, and the ideal.  The second image makes me feel at peace. The first makes me feel sick. Perhaps I should try horse-riding.

Well, I have made one decision about work, and its in progress as I write. I have reduced my hours back to four days instead of five, which frees up one day a week for pursuing other things. This starts next week, in the New Year. I'll keep you posted, excuse the pun.

Purging and Setting Intentions
The idea of a symbolic purge intrigues me. Throw out all your 'bad stuff', on 28th December, which is Good Riddance Day, apparently. Or is that only in New York? Seems like it hasn't really caught on here yet. But I have participated in a similar ritual, on a meditation retreat, of writing down what you want to let go of, and putting the paper its written on in the communal fire. Honestly, I don't feel the symbolism, but then I am no good at setting intentions, either. When I do yoga, thats my intention. Just to do yoga. Not to think about what I intend to achieve by doing yoga. But I guess some people find it helpful.

Grumpy Old Mentor
I heard this expression today on Radio National, talking about Bill Murray's character in the movie St Vincent. I think this is something I could sometimes be described as, and aspire to.

Ordinary
One more thing, I liked this piece by Leigh Sales, about how journalists often write about how surprising it is when terrible things (sieges, massacres, acts of terrorism, plane crashes) tend to happen on 'ordinary days' - the fact that they do is obvious really. That seems to be the whole point, its surprising that we are surprised. Appreciate what (ordinary life) you have, while you can, is the overarching message. You never know when the ordinary may become extraordinarily bad.

A hyperlink won't work as its in the Australian, and its a pay to view article. You can see it on Twitter, go to @Eclair172.

That's all for now, more later.

N.B.
This post was somewhat prompted by my brother's imminent retirement. He is almost 2 years younger than me; this demonstrates the power of the sibship, and how we measure our 'success' in life! And again, I am not complaining!


*not sure if I agree with this writer, but I liked the metaphor of the 'middle class earthquake'. I don't blame airbnb. It seems like a great idea. Its capitalism I have a problem with.