January 29, 2015

Being 22

It has been 22 years since I've came to existence. For someone who changes their environment or daily routine drastically every 5 years or so, 22 years may seem like a long time, but for someone who has been working in the same environment for say, 40 years, it's merely a half-way point.

As linear and objective time can be, it surely doesn't feel that way at all. 

I came across this video the other day, in which an anthropology lecturer from LSE talks about how a lot of people think that their jobs are useless, making their lives feel miserable as they do nothing to contribute to anything but essentially exchange their time to receive the all-important wage. He then mentions this concept of basic income, where people receive some basic pay and are free to do anything they wish to get more income, and he argues that in such a society, there would definitely be more good than in one that has jobs that makes people feel as if life's meaningless.

The immediate thought that comes to my mind is I'd bake, which is funny because I keep telling myself and other people that I'm not really serious about this whole thing ... but it would seem nice (at least for a short period of time) that I'd bake every day. The thought of having a day job that involves some form of physical activity and having my mind focussed on something I'm doing with my hands just seems ... ideal.

The thought of slaving myself in an office, spending every moment of unoccupied brain activity contemplating about life seems, well, depressing.

It doesn't help that economists always describe working as a form of exchange where you trade your labour (which implies time) for income that you would then use on day-to-day expenses. I guess I can finally see where love comes in as a very important part of life. 

It would be funny to read all my blog posts some time in the future where I've finally made sense of everything, assuming that I eventually do. I just hope that day comes soon.

So far, every office job I had tells me that it isn't for me. I guess it's not so much of baking that's the thing I want to do, but something that doesn't involve doing stuff that bores me. Maybe it boils down to what sort of a job can really provide me with the satisfaction essential to make life meaningful?
-Kritz

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