“Work to live or live to work?”
I had an awesome trial day at an animal hotel, and it taught me the 3rd option: living work!
History
Working for the weekend
(This bit is negative so I’m marking it as Private! 😉 )
My work ethic got me to working as a project manager and a project leader until my body realised this was a load of crap and isn’t what I wanted in life. Body and mind crashed on me. I was working to live a life I couldn’t carry on living in the same way.
A Different Way! 🙂
Animal Hotel
3 years later I find myself outside roaming a large, sandy area scooping up dog crap and putting it into a wheelbarrow. It’s the height of summer in 30 + degrees of sunshine; it’s hard physical work in the sweltering heat. Sweat rolls off my bald head and drips onto the parched sand, dribbling down into the crevices and interstices to escape the sun.
I think of the The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The son claims his early inheritance and moves out, squanders his cash and runs into trouble. He wonders why he gave up a good life in place for working with pigs.
I think of Greg, Dharma’s husband in the sitcom “Dharma & Greg” (created by Chuck Lorre and Dottie Dartland, Season 1, Episode 13, ABC) who has second thoughts about giving up his well paid job for flipping burgers (see clip below).
Video hosted on YouTube by RoccosVideos. (And I’ll point out the channel is named after Rocco, the channel owner’s beloved dog! 🙂 )
I’m qualified up to the eyeballs and have more technical experience than I care for. I think of my ex-colleagues in their air conditioned offices and luxury meeting rooms with coffee machines and fruit bowls. They’ll still have clean clothes when they get home from work, and won’t need to shower to get the day’s filth off as soon as they do.
And I think: I’m scooping up dog crap and I’m really happy here!
What’s the difference?
What’s the difference between walking on dog-shit-covered sand with a paddling area nearby and walking on a beach during tourist season?
What’s the difference between hearing dogs barking and listening to middle managers and alpha males barking at each other in a meeting?
What’s the difference between getting covered in dog slobber and getting a start-up meeting invitation for the next project instead of a “Good job, Paul”?
The answer is easy for me. I’m not working for professionals and their interest in euros. I’m working for and caring for animals who I deep-down care about! 🙂
“It’s a dog’s Life”. (And other animals’!)
My work in animal care isn’t in chunks. I’ll clean up after the dogs, but it’s not “job done” because the dog still needs care. And I’ll feed him but it’s not “job done” because he still needs care.
Animal care is never finished. It’s never “job done”, even when they pass. Don’t we tend the graves of our loved ones? Animal care is being there. It’s walking a life alongside an animal. It doesn’t stop at 17:00, or on Friday, or at the end of a shift. It’s a lifestyle, it’s awesome and it’s living work! 🙂
“Work”?
True, I won’t be paid during my internship, but when I’m qualified and have my (paid) job working with animals…what a wonderful working life that will be! 🙂
