I work double shift on Labor Day!

When we adults wake up, we begin to think about what to do that day.  As the poet-extraordinaire Kannadasan wrote in his astounding lyrics for this phenomenal song, காலை எழுந்தவுடன் நாளைய கேள்வி அது கையில் கிடைத்தபின்னும் துடிக்குது ஆவி  (Kaalai Ezhunthavudan Naalaiya Kaelvi | Athu Kaiyil Kidaitha Pinnum Thudikkuthu Aavi), which roughly translates to "After waking up, one ponders about the day | Even if one gets what one wants, the mind remains restless."

We have had to figure out what exactly we want to do with our lives, especially since humans got away from their hunting/gathering existence and invented agriculture. 

Not being able to figure out the day, when it happens day after day, makes one worry about the more fundamental, existential questions.  Perhaps that is all the more that we report to work, even if it is not the work that we love to do because the alternative sucks and even frightens us.

Even before getting into the engineering program, I worried that I wouldn't enjoy it.  Four years in the program certainly confirmed that.

Working in India upon graduation erased even the tiniest doubts I might have had.  I hated waking up in the morning and heading to work.  I barely survived ten weeks in my first job, and then it was a quite a few months before I took up my second one, in which I didn't even last a month.  After a couple more months of "unproductive" existence, which perhaps triggered quite a few heartburn episodes in my parents' lives, I took up another job in which I served the longest--six months!

And then it was off to the US for graduate schooling.

The "work" after graduate school was not one that I had planned on, and I certainly felt ill at ease there, while it certainly paid immensely more than what I currently earn.  But, I was no longer in my early twenties, and being older meant that I had to be more "responsible."  So, I faked my way through those nearly six years.

Lucky breaks I got.

I do not even pretend to my students, however, that they can always get to do whatever they want to do.  I warn them that "you can be whatever you want to be" is more often than not a lie.  A big fat lie. To those who engage me on this topic, I remind them that very, very rarely in life are we able to do whatever we truly enjoy doing, and that they ought to be mentally prepared to simply suck it up and get going.

"Too many of us expect our jobs to give meaning to our lives."  Exactly!

In truth, we can’t be anything we want, nor should we try, because dreams are imprecise, and wants are insatiable. It is far better to focus on what we can do, where we can help. Our duties are a surer guide in life — and we are happier for embracing them.

But, the key is to always keep that dream and passion alive within.

Labor Day wishes: may you love your work!

"P," who was a lifer like many of us back at the school in Neyveli, remarked that I come across as one who loves his work, as opposed to many who can't seem to wait to get away from what they do for a living.

I am so delighted that I come across that way because, well, it is true.

My lines on this topic are variations of "my work is my hobby, and my hobby is my work" or "I would do exactly this even if they didn't pay me."  I know I am one lucky guy, at least when it comes to this aspect of life, which, is perhaps, an important facet of our lives.

We have had to figure out what exactly we want to do with our lives, ever since humans got away from their hunting/gathering existence and invented agriculture, which Jared Diamond thinks is an awful idea that led to all the problems humans and, thereby, all the rest of the species face.  Seeking an answer to this fundamental, existential question more often than not begins with trying to figure out what we would like to do, the proceeds from which we can then barter for anything else we would like to own or do, or even to find a mate.

The "work" we do kind of serves as an identity mark, as much as the moles on my lower forearms are.  (Oddly, I have nearly identical placements of a mole each in my right and left arms!)  To most people, unfortunately, this critically important part of their identity is also one of the most unpleasant parts of their lives and, thus, day dreaming about winning the lottery so that they can shove that job aside is, I suppose, nothing American but an universal story. 

I did live that unpleasant life, more than once.

Even before getting into the engineering program, I worried that it was not my calling and that I wouldn't enjoy it.  Four years in the program certainly confirmed that.

Working in India upon graduation erased even the tiniest doubts I might have had.  I hated waking up in the morning and heading to work.  I barely survived ten weeks in my first job, and then it was a quite a few months before I took up my second one, in which I didn't even last a month.  After a couple more months of "unproductive" existence, which perhaps triggered quite a few heartburn episodes in my parents' lives, I took up another job in which I served the longest--six months!

And then it was off to the US for graduate schooling.

The "work" after graduate school was not one that I had planned on, and I certainly felt ill at ease there, while it certainly paid immensely more than what I currently earn.  But, I was no longer in my early twenties, and being older meant that I had to be more "responsbile."  So, I faked my way through those nearly six years.

Lucky breaks I got, thanks to which, "I yam what I yam."

I do not even pretend to my students, however, that they can always get to do whatever they want to do.  To those who engage me on this topic, I remind them that very rarely in life are we able to do whatever we truly enjoy doing, and that they ought to be mentally prepared to simply suck it up and get going.

But, to always keep that dream alive though.

After all, if those humans way back then hadn't dreamt of a life and a world outside the African Savannah, I wouldn't even be blogging this!

So, to those of you enjoying your work, consider yourselves extremely lucky. To those who don't care for whatever you do that gets you your daily bread, hang in there and keep smiling.

A job will never satisfy you all by itself, but it will afford you security and the chance to pursue an exciting and fulfilling life outside of your work. A calling is an activity you find so compelling that you wind up organizing your entire self around it -- often to the detriment of your life outside of it.     There’s no shame in either. Each has costs and benefits. There is no reason to make a fetish of your career. There are activities other than work in which to find meaning and pleasure and even a sense of self-importance -- you just need to learn how to look.     ...

So which is it: job or calling? You can answer the question directly, or allow time to answer it for you. Either way, I think you’d be happier if you stopped thinking of what the world had to offer you, and started thinking a bit more about what you had to offer the world. Real excitement isn’t just in whatever you happen to be doing, but in what you bring to it.

Labor Day and unemployment