I love my work. Well, I really, really, really enjoy many aspects of how I earn my living. After some negativity in my life I need to post something more positive. But still honest.
When I was a young warthog someone said (wrote?) that the true test of job satisfaction is whether you would continue to do a job even after a big lottery win. I’ll Ignore for the moment the wisdom of holding on to a job you don’t need (financially) when others might, and see it strictly in terms of mental health and ‘quality of life’ terms.
My current sources of income through The Digital Gryphon LLC are quite varied;
@ DigitalGryphon.com– photography, graphic design and publishing;
@ GuncleTarot.com– tarot and oracle card readings;
@ SisterFlirt.ca– queer, non-theist, spiritual humanist ministry of Joy, Kindness and Love;
@ All supplemented by delivering food for GrubHub (although I’m no longer driving for Lyft).
Most of my work life has included positions with multiple and varied tasks. And whenever I worked for more than just a couple of years at a company I would find new positions (whether or not considered a ‘promotion’ by others) to ensure variety and new challenges. So having a list of current jobs is as much for personal satisfaction as for keeping a roof over my head. At least for now, it meets both needs.
Back to the Big Lottery Win question.
I have no doubt that if I won a multi-million dollar prize the Card Readings and Sister Flirt’s Ministry would continue- not for the income, but for sharing my gifts/ experience/ wisdom with others. I would also not stop using my camera and computer to create and share images and designs; either without charge or using any funds raised to support selected non-profit organizations. Creativity doesn’t just disappear when financial needs are otherwise met.
I would stop driving for GrubHub and Lyft after such a windfall. Aside from not taking work from someone who really needs it, I have philosophical concerns over how those firms and their competitors damage society. They undermine worker rights & safety rules and weaken unions. I resisted working for them until the financial need was just too great. Compromise in the name of survival.
Ironically, the most immediate job satisfaction I find these days is from delivering food. People are often waiting for me at the door when the app advises them I’m pulling up. And if the household has a dog, well, the greetings are AWESOME. So much so that I spent my shift today considering how much of a mid-sized lottery win or cash gift would be enough to cover urgent house repairs, cataract surgery and replace my 2012 (118k miles) 5-door car with a brand new Kia Soul so that I can continue to do all these jobs, but without the severe mental stress of poverty.
Making peace with our imperfections and the compromises we make, and not forgetting or devaluing the good things we do and the growth we experience; “adulting is hard.”
Related Posts:
Machine-Produced Wealth;
Trickle Down Economics;
Corporate Fundamentalism.
