I have recently thought again about this Eric Gill quote. I find it unsatisfying in many ways.
Despite the few individuals in our world who live without money, it is futile to try for an alternative to a monetary economy at this point.
We are therefore faced with the need to make money and there are only really the alternatives of working for oneself (risky, and without even the chance of paid sickness and holidays) and working for someone else.
In my misspent youth I would have said that being paid money for doing something instantly devalues it to the level of the money and no more. I can now see the amateur's many drawbacks and that monetary recompense can mean higher standards and hence more pride.
Why is it impossible to have the best of both worlds? Since being offered another job I have found myself in the unaccustomed position of being very chuffed to get the job and grateful to my new employers. In comparison to the unalloyed contempt I feel for my previous employers this has meant a marked change in my attitude to my new job (which I haven't started yet).
The moral here is that it is possible to have a job which isn't a drudge. The job I've got is very specialised, do I'm thinking if I don't take to it I needn't stay forever. But the universe clearly has a lesson for me about work, exchange, duty, and ownership, and it's a breath of fresh air.
Now just in case anyone is thinking I'm unaccustomedly happy and may be unwell, you have no cause for concern. My claim for constructive dismissal has been presented to my last employers by the Acas conciliation service with a view to taking it to the tribunal.
And of course I will make a success of my new job: I have people to prove wrong!
Do you see the cobbles on the streets? Everywhere you look, stone & rock. Can you imagine what it feels like to reach down with your bones & feel the living stones? The city is built on itself, all the cities that came before. Can you imagine how it feels to lie down on an ancient flagstone & feel the power of the rock buoying you up against the tug of the world? And that's where witchcraft begins. The stones have life, & I'm part of it. - adapted from Terry Pratchett
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated before publication