For two and a half years now, I have worked part time. This was less of a choice, than a feeling that if I didn't get out of my full time job - which felt like it was consuming my life/spirit (despite being for an organisation making a social contribution, rather than a commercial enterprise) - I would die (melodrama notwithstanding, it was how I felt).
I earn slightly less than I did before, but have twice the amount of time to myself, and most importantly, feel like I have my headspace back. For me it was less about who I was working for, than having to be a part of/spokesperson for/accountable to a collective. Now my opinions are my own again. And that's restored my feeling of creativity. I create/say what I like (apart from those hrs that someone buys from me to create what they want). My rule of thumb is "time over money". I keep my life simple: no car, cell phone, credit card, pay TV, DVD; buy my (100% cotton, my only preference) clothes at the supermarket along with the milk; borrow books from the library; take long walks, and generally feel a lot happier. My biggest expense, after rent, is my phone bill (online time, and that I see as an investment in my education, and what I can give back).
In my experience, when I worked full time, at someone else's desk, for regimented hrs every day, I needed more money to buy stuff and for entertainment for diversion. And it was never enough, because I wanted out.
With regard to "work", I've confirmed for myself that I think we should hold in mind the question: "what would you do if you weren't being paid?" (for the love of/fun), and do as much of that as time/finances allow. And sometimes it's the less obvious/Einstein-in-the-patent-office type jobs that give us that kind of space...
(I had a musician friend in NY who recently worked as a chimney sweep to allow him time to play his music. Also the physical work acted as a kind of meditative/creative space...)
I think we sometimes confuse "work" with what pays the bills. For a lucky few (Yehudi Menuhin for eg) there is/was never any question that these two were one and the same. But for most of us I think it's untrue. What are you on the planet for/what feels right/makes you breathe easier/can you get lost in while you're doing it? That, I believe, is your work. And then whatever it takes to pay the bills... (you may have to downsize)
You might get to fly less...
And, cliched as it sounds, I don't believe we have the power to change the world, only our block (wherever it might be at the time), and *that* I think can change the world.
And sometimes I think the biggest contribution we can make is to pour less junk into the world/not feed the commercial machine... I think it takes a critical mass. (or maybe that's idealistic/naive, but you'll be happier in the process of finding out anyway).
well I still should be "working" but there is so much in this question, so the keyboard calls.
The most telling of Adam's post: "My challenge, from here on in, is going to be to invent situations that allow me to do what I do best and still put food on the table."
Its interesting because if you take a step back the space that Adam is out to create is not very far from numerous existing ones. Artist, entrepreneur, promoter, consultant, producer, etc, etc, etc. People have been inventing these spaces over and over again, all across the globe. And it *is* an act of invention every time, which is of course what's so telling.
Their are a couple guides to the path, a few tracings of the way, but really there is almost nothing. The act of inventing a space outside joint stock corporation is, in our society, a process of continual reinvention, and a major risk. Its all driven by pure personal energy. To invent that space, and to maintain that space requires a massive investment of your own time and effort. Remove that energy and your space disappears.
The joint stock corporation in contrast, has it easy in a way. Its a structure that can stand without its creators holding it up themselves. And as such it frequently takes on a life of its own. Its these structures that make life inside (parts) of the joint stock corporation so lucrative, relatively easy and often mind numbingly boring. And its also the way that corporations have been able to grow to a size that rivals nation states.
What I'm working on at the moment, is how to create alternative structures on that global scope. How is it that multinationals, nation states and religions get to operate on such a scope? And how do we create alternatives, ones whose overriding interests aren't profit or power?
Andie, out of curiosity do you consider all forms consumerism equally bad? Or would you admit to the possibility that some forms of consumerism are less damaging or perhaps even constructive?
I think we can all agree that when consumerism does things like destroy women's body image in order to sell product, its highly problematic. But is the marketing hype around say a new Radiohead or the Rapture album, just as bad?
Um, is one of the questions in this discussion "Where is it safe to be poor?"
As the saying goes, nobody starves to death in America. The same goes for Canada and a bunch of other places.
So what does "putting food on the table" mean? Meeting all of your basic needs? With any definition you have, it's securing would depend on where you live. Health care and insurance in general are good examples, as are things like community or isolation. I wonder how difficult it would be to deal with visas or citizenship if I were to move someplace with national health care, as that's one thing I probably couldn't afford and would really want. And Toronto is really nice.
"Andie, out of curiosity do you consider all forms consumerism equally bad?"
No (and yes I know, "one wo/man's junk..."/debates about quality notwithstanding...) What I think we need to address/shift is excess. And often consumption is an anaesthetic/personal reward system, to compensate for doing lucrative but unfulfilling "work".
aizan, I would say that while "Where is it safe to be poor" is an extremely valid question, and of some relevance to this discussion. But its also somewhat overly reductionist. We can reduce any discussion of life in the West to deal with issues of world imbalance, but we can also attempt reduce it all down to the atomic movement of particles. And being pragmatic animals we try not to...
What you're doing, Adam, is being "a player" - that is, fashioning your own sense of productivity and value, in a networked world that is ever more open to new definitions of human purposefulness. The point is that you've made the mental shift *beyond work*, while not wanting to abandon yourself to leisured hedonism. I'm writing a book about exactly this kind of life, The Play Ethic - and I call you guys "soulitarians". Great blog, keep up the ruminating
Ok, ok. I was just wondering since this reminded me of some Modernist utopistics, the European socialist kind. I wasn't asking how to eliminate poverty or anything like that. I was asking where can you make little money, be poor, and still "put food on the table", an important idea in this discussion, ignoring completely the places where you make little money and still can't "put food on the table".
Or am I off and "soulitarians" or whatever they are not poor?
"...situations that allow me to do what I do best and still put food on the table." You've just precisely described something that I once assumed was there for the taking, and that I'm now struggling to believe in. When I believed, I pursued only the jobs that sounded cool, "networked" only with people whose interests I shared and went into debt in a fascinating but expensive graduate program, all so that I could figure out what I do best and who would pay me to do it. It took me a while to realize just how isolating that quest can be. In the effort to personalize my career and carve out a unique niche in the economy and the culture, I let my work (especially my creative work) become the yardstick by which I measured my whole worth. Then came the downturn in the media industries, which meant that all those interesting people who shared my interests stopped having freelance gigs for me. Now I've got to re-think things. What I know at the moment is that the somewhat macho, small-pond-celebrity-chasing "free-agent" mindset works great for some brilliant friends of mine, but for me, the long solo hours, constant status-measuring and the need to 'get your personal brand out there' actually stifle creativity through a hundred small intimidations. (Perhaps if I were not in NYC, I'd feel this less.) But that doesn't make me any more eager to resume full-time salaried work, even though I long for some reliable income. For now, my quest for meaningfully productive and remunerative work seems to rest on two things: finding a stable part-time gig, and finding great collaborative relationships. Both are works in progress at the moment. Anyway, that's one person's solipsistic world view.
aizan, I wasn't dismissing your question, just trying to keep the conversation focused a bit. Personally I don't think this path is one of poverty in the least. However as Andrea illustrates well, it is a path of significantly increase financial risk, so the possibility of poverty is a serious factor.
As for socialism, if anything this is an extremely american, individualist, capitalist cowboy sort of thing. Its funny I've been both an artist and an entrepreneur and in this day and age I'm not sure there is really much of difference, other then the choice of vocabulary.
Speaking of which I like this term "player". Of course to me its a pure hip hop term, and I its seems Pat's construction comes from quite a different source. But yeah you can call me a player if you want to... Maybe I should put it on my business card.
This thread has got me thinking of the networks surrounding more established creative free agent type fields. Music, film, art, writing, etc. All have pretty established routes through the network and toward success, although its not easy, and most don't make it. But nor do most people make it to the top of the corporate pyramid. The big difference seems to be that things are bit more well defined and easy to make out inside a bureaucratic organization. And its nice to have the sales people be someone other then yourself ;)
What's really interesting is how our rapidly evolving communications and distribution networks are generating new ways blaze your own path. I have a sense when its all settled 50 years from now the digital creative path will be as staid and established as the writer path. But till then, well we take all the risks and need to figure it all out ourselves.
It is very easy to confuse one's occupation with compromising one's values in order to survive (without getting into the semantics of "survival" at the moment). But what is perhaps the greatest challenge is to acquire enough life experience and quiet meditation/contemplation time to be able to understand what is one's soul-work (analogous to one's soul-mate in relationships, if you follow my metaphor.)
In my case, it took about 40 years or so, 20 of them spent working (with all the negative baggage associated with that word) in an upwardly mobile career, plus almost dying to then be able to begin the requisite contemplation. It then took several more years until I found what I had really known all along, but was simply too much in a waking trance to have realized it.
I walked away from a 6-figure annual income to a 3-figure annual income in order to become both satisfied and passionate about what I do. I can also see my way back to a fairly decent income and lifestyle, finding occupation that suits my "natural mode" (next book) and therefore doesn't feel like work.
For the integral person, there is no work, for that person has the awareness to be occupied with pursuits that are both fulfilling, and natural extensions of his or her essential character. Discovering one's natural mode does take some time, however. Remember, Moses wandered in the desert for seven years before he found the burning bush... and compared to most of us, that was fast.
You and I talked about this a bit hanging out with Rheingold, Adam, but I would simply say that I've figured out a way to structure my life and work so that there's very little conflict. I get paid to do things I'd do happily for free (though don't tell my bosses that, heh heh) and it makes me happy.
Now, if I could just get paid a lot MORE for doing things I'd do happily for free....
Great question Adam.
I recently turned 31 and was thinking about how my mother had a five-year-old (me) and a fourteen-year-old (my sister) when she was my age. How very different our lives turned out!
Most days, I get to do exactly what I want and I never lack for inspiration or money. But I imagine things would be quite different if I had a husband, children and a mortgage ...
I also suspect that my satisfaction in life has a lot to do with spending the last decade in university or consulting - activities that suit my character and sustain my spirit. In fact, I only remember one time in my life when I was doing something for a living that I loathed - and I quit after a few months.
All of which is to say that I have only ever "invented situations that allow me to do what I do best and still put food on the table."
Lucky? Definitely. But this is also the only thing I know how to do ;)
I wish I was rich.
This is a fascinating post, and one which I identify with in many ways at the moment. I'm just about to embark on a few life changes myself, and my aim is to build the sort of existance that you are talking about Adam. I was just <a href="http://www.domus.uklinux.ne... a brief note</a> on this sort of thing myself when I cam across this post, and it's helped me frame some of my own thoughts on the matter. Still gotta bit of thinking to do, though. Thanks for the inspiration.
Ah, it appears screwed up that linkage their. It should just be:
This is clearly the sort of thing many of us can relate to.
I quit my job as a Java programmer about 4 months ago. Since then I've started <A href="http://216.36.193.92/optima... project</a> I'd been dreaming about for a long time; got involved writing a piece of music for a contemporary dance show; updated my <a href="http://216.36.193.92/cgi-bi... and finally landed one paid gig giving a talk on weblogs and wikis (subjects that obsess me).
So I'm working incredibly hard. I believe I'm contributing something as valuable to society as I was when building e-commerce sites for dot bombs. And I'm very happy.
I'm also living in bubble of fantasy. Because the moment my savings run out, things are going to get tough.
There's a lot of people interested in this, So I'd like to see this question taken further. Can we pool war-stories? Suggestions. Heuristics? Analyses?
Theories as to why it's easier to get paid for worthless than worthwhile work? Ideas on changing this?
Let us all pray for end to prosperity.
You know, the fact of the matter is that the majority of the population of this planet will always be stuck in jobs they don't necessarily enjoy (that is if they have jobs in the first place)...
Which is fine and dandy. I think one needs to be occasionally reminded of the elitist nature of the lives we lead, so as we don't start taking our cybersocialsit musings too seriously.
Daniel, the Finnish ecofascist Linkola once stated that poverty is not what should be eradicated. Wealth is.
Arttu -- I'm not sure I agree with you. I imagine there is a random distribution of passions, excluding some seriously degrading work.
As far as eradicating prosperity-- I've recently begun to think that just as selfishness is a human trait (and usury leads to a power law distributio of wealth), so too must revolution be a natural human condition.
Until we are less motivated by -me- and more motivated by -we-, I don't imagine that will change.
Meanwhile, capitalism sucks least. And the pendulum swings. I don't think revolution in the US is too far off... though it may just be the silent creeping subversion instead of a sudden violence.
Oh come now, most of the jobs associated with maintaining the infrastructure of our lives are not the sort that support "passion"...
FOr the record, I don't subscribe to Linkola's ideas, but I do think he is a genius sloganeering machine on par with the great Chuck D. But, like I said, he's essentially a fascist, so...
You might just find the following website of help:)
http://www.whywork.org
Cheers!
Sorry , but I only now got a chance to comment in this thread .
Yes, Adam - ' work, value and the world'.
Without digressing too far ,
I'll go bk to early 2000.
This was a period where I was in the music Studio almost every week day turning out music for NY Times TV client shows for Discovery and TLC.
The money was ok due to the volume of work we did and we did it well so we went from doing one series, "Trauma:Life In The ER" to 6 in a couple years.
As I had done in '98 , I used the Jan.-
April production break to take another nice, big trip bk to Asia
(Japan, Thai, Nepal Himal) .
Being in the Studio so much was good for my kyboard skills and I could program drum parts and make bass lines while still watching the scene we had to do finish -
but I was growing unhappy with the um, unenlightened way my Boss partner had with people .
Having been *hit on by X Velvet Underground guitarists had buggered him right up.
So, $ wonderfully added up to the point where when i recieved the
11k check from Puff Daddy (as he was so called then) for his sampling
a 1980's track of mine , I let it fall down behind the TV and lanquish there unopened.
In the past years I had been able to move my wife out of her small East Vill Apt. and up into a very sweet Apt. with a beautiful view and much more space , so I was pretty content with all this .
Maybe I would get Insurance ... hmm.
Well, let's go on a big trip first.
Got the feeling the media fed Internet boom was flashing and about to burst while staying at a 6 star Bangkok Hotel (not that you could tell from the frenzied local Cable TV reportage) - i dialed NYC to check on the next season.
Immediately from the tone of my partner's voice , I could tell something had happened.
Our Executive Producer's had all gotten sacked and so our own work dribbled down to what we called 'pothole filling' -
a scene needed a gap fixed or a piece of music we had done previously didn't quite work with another someone (usually an Avid trained 'editor') had chosen.
I looked for a good way out and when all the work dried up ,
I was bk in a freetime world with almost nothing saved.
Aaah , but then I got bk into 'making records' again ,
something I just didn't get to do for those past years since '96.
Now, I have 3 records coming out soon with 2 or 3 more for 2004.
True , some of them are Rereleases of my '80's groups - but what I found remarkable was how I was able to catch some breeze that was blowing the right way for me and turn my music 'career' into something resembling 'hot' again.
The results made me think of how it is to live in these cities where chances come and go ,
doors open and close and you don't want to get caught between.
We now make our living from one long time Japanese Client ( doing research for large bed & pillow Co.),
the work my wife does for her friend's Company (coord. Japanese fashion shoots here in NYC)
and the occasional pick up job
(like next weeks Coord. for ANA's inflight mag) .
Rough , but we are making it.
Some weeks I am able to spend a whole week straight working on Book , I was able to reconnect with every one of my old, old friends I found again on the web , we survived seeing 9/11 out the bedroom window and luckily the recent blackout was only one night.
But my mind is so different from when I was working every day - even if it was doing something I like.
Looking bk , I can see that 'work' has been like islands for me, and each time I went from one to the other ,
I learned and learned some more,
'taking over' whatever given field I got into.
Whether Music Vids, LaserDisc, CDROM Prod , trying to do a web Company or doing DVD's ,
it's been a flow down , up or sideways.
Yesterday , I got a call from London that may erase our debt and set me up for the next years.
Your personal artist , consultant, producer, director , player network counts for something and is (hopefully) always refilling and circulating ...
Cheers all
damn, a question straight for my heart. Unfortunately I've yet to do any "real work" today, therefore my personal answers will wait a moment.