9 to 5

[poliphilo]

The kind of life that everyone is supposed to want- safe, secure, prosperous, no serious worries or upsets, steady employment, 2.5 children- all that sort of thing-  is the kind that people are most likely to regret when they look back from the lip of the grave. On the other hand a rackety sort of life, full of changes of scenery and fortune- with slidings up and down the social scale- is the kind they're most likely to be pleased with.

We're not timorous beasties, us humans- we're designed for hardship and adventure. Our brains and bodies are adaptable and resilient. They crave the fullest exercise we can give them. 9 to 5 is not really what we want.

I look back and, by and large, the things I'm proudest of are the risks I took.

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I get that, big time! :o)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The boss class wants to tame us and get us fearful of doing anything to rock the boat- well, bollocks to that!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

If I'd thought that way, I'd no longer be here............

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

I sure have had my ups and downs and never loved the nine to five mentality. Looks like another major change is on the cards soon.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Change," as my father used to say, "is good for the soul."

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

"Getting money, getting love, getting fed, getting fucked up
Human nature, it's human nature"
- Caught a Ghost, Human Nature

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"The give birth astride a grave," says one of Beckett's characters. Actually, I think there's more to it than that.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I would actually rather like at least a period of 9-5 tedium... No moving around, no impulsive moves; just settling down a little and enjoying my friends and my new house.

But that's probably not going to happen. Something always crops up.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, you've had a rough ride recently. No shame in craving some time out.

In the context of a very eventful life a quiet stretch might well be construed as an adventure.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

"Recently" as in the past 5-6 years. ;-)

6-7 different homes (depending on whether holiday homes count - and also the apartment in Aberdeen), a marriage, a divorce, an expatriation, 2 complete refurbishment projects - and a third under way - and a few bouts of depression.

But by the end of next week I will be done moving homes for the foreseeable future and will be installed in my flat and my house, so that should give some peace of mind. I rather think I'll like not moving around all the time! :-)

Still, I agree with you in as much as humans can certainly handle more than we think we can. I just think my comfort zone is, well, being more comfortable than I have been.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

We're on the point of retirement and the prospect of quiet days and a bit of security (even though our income will drop considerably) is definitely very appealing.

I think it might depend on one's background. If you grew up with uncertainty, then there's a lot to be said for acheiving quiet security. My Dad died recently at the age of almost 94 and he led what might appear from the outside to be a dull and boring life, but he enjoyed family life and pursued his interests and, as far as I know, had no major regrets.

[matrixmann]

Just a similar reason for why I keep telling people which still have the choice: Why do you wanna do that stunt with spouse / lifemate, house, children, big parking parking before it? Why do you wanna live the same kind of life that all people live?
If it's people that I know, I always wonder "once you were so enthusiastic about not wanting all this shit and do an alternative way of life, but now you're like the total square - I can't believe that you really want this or I must have missed something in between..."
Especially people which, due to their circumstances of life, can't walk this way I tell this as a rhetoric question. I don't understand what's so good about the standard.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Me neither.

There are so many things to be experienced, done, seen, undergone in this life. If you don't take advantage of at least some of the opportunities that come your way you're liable to regret it.

[matrixmann]

For me it's not the experience - I think I just don't know what to do with this standard that humans put to themselves. I can't find anything enjoyable with it. But I would guess I'm not the only creature which does so. Others only lack the courage, they need to be told "that's fine to be egoistic IN THAT WAY".

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Sadly, some of us are timorous beasties and we really, really like the idea of a secure home and a job-for-life...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You sell yourself short.

I think of you as a person who loves the natural world, who notices things (like Hardy) and attempts to make sense of experience through "the intolerable struggle with words".

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Yes, but puddleshark can do that because they have a secure job and home (at least as far as I know).

My husband and I always say (on hearing the latest scandal or complicated life an acquaintance is leading), how on earth do they find time to do the things they enjoy doing when just living their life takes so much effort and angst?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Wanting security as a means to an end is different from wanting it as an end in itself.

Actually there's nothing really wrong with wanting security etc- it's just that an eventful life is more interesting.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Anon comment was me.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

One can only wonder at someone like Anthony Trollope who held a high profile civil service job while simultaneously writing a series of enormous novels. I've never had that kind of energy.

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

I'm proudest of the times I've been able to help others. That's easiest to do when you yourself aren't struggling. A steady job may not be the most fulfilling thing in the world, but for a lot of people, it isn't anything more than what allows them to do what they feel really matters. I don't particularly want a life full of racket- risks in my life have proven to be ways to lose, not ways to win. I'd rather have a small life, a comfortable life, and right now I really, really wish that included a boring, steady employment, because the lack of it isn't a fun slide up and down the social scale, it's a fairly steady descent. I don't want personal excitement, I want to have enough stability that I can help those that don't have that.

I see what you're saying, and I know it works better for a lot of folks that way, but we need all sorts of people. All those boring little workers with their smaller lives provide the warp and weft of society. Not everyone wants to be the bold decoration or the brightest parts of the tapestry. It's fine to say it isn't what you want, and I'm glad you know and have done more of what you do want, but it's just meanness to deride the folks that show up every day and make sure things get done even if they aren't exciting.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't believe I'm deriding anyone- just stating a preference.

"Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife.
To all the sensual world proclaim
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without an name."

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Good point. I might have blown it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Never too late to change.

You know what you have to do- write more poems!