From the moment we zip up our first back pack and hesitantly walk
through the giant doors of the Kindergarten classroom, we are being
brainwashed. Not by the Kindergarten teachers - god no - those people
are saints - but they the entire system.
Why do we go to school? To learn things.
Why do we need to learn things? To get a good job.
Why do we need a good job? To pay our bills and keep a roof over our head.
To be a productive member of society.
We THINK that we have individual choice. We can choose our career path. We can choose our path in life. Right?
In truth, we have individual choice within the boundaries of "the productive human system" - which is really no choice at all.
Let me back up; apologize for my rant, and explain where all this soapbox talk is coming from.
I
am "mostly" retired. I say mostly because I occasionally take on a
client if I am in the right mood. I don't need to bring in the income
from that client. I do it purely because I want to, and I don't do it
that often. My days are spent exploring what it is that I want to do
(which is a HEAVY question suitable for a different post).
When I talk to people about my life, I am more often than not, met with confusion and questions:
"Why would you want to not work?"
"What do you do with yourself?"
"I love my job. I never want to stop working."
Being
the overly diplomatic person that I am, I nod and politely agree that I
am completely nuts and understand where they are coming from.
But, here's the thing. I DON'T!!!!!
Are
you seriously telling me that you would rather spend your one beautiful
precious life working to make someone else money? Or, lets say you have
the worlds most altruistic job. You are still spending your time doing
what others tell you to do in exchange for a paycheck.
WHY????
Because
we are trained to think that that is the only the way to live our life.
School prepares and rewards us for following directions and doing what
others want us to do.
We are conditioned to associate a
person's value with their career path. "What do you do?" "I work at
McDonnalds." "Oh..." or "I save babies from cancer" "wow!"
You
should see the looks I get when I say, "I dabble in things and ideas
that I want to explore. Nope - no one pays me to do this. Yeah - I guess
you can say that I'm unemployed..."
I am looked at
with pity. When deep down, I feel nothing but pity for those trapped in
the rat race. How did we compromise the very essence of what it means to
be human for the ease of a paycheck and positive standing in society?
