A Song of Strength

Some of you aren’t notably artsy, and would prefer I keep most of the posts confined to the propositional, I know. And I think the philosophy of work is cool, too. But, well, what can I tell you – not being able to cut off the other parts of my life is exactly the reason I don’t feel particularly comfortable in corporate life. I like to be an integrated person, with all the weepy, sad songs and emotional stuff, the geeky sci-fi and frenetic eccentricity, the notes on the finer points of oat bran and other subjects that reflect a general interest in life, and everything else, which I think all bleeds with our attitudes about work. The activity of our souls is all-consuming, and the work of our hands comes from that source, like fire from a furnace. If you don’t get that, you don’t get work, I think. It’s like picking up the Wall Street Journal – it’s got some of everything, because everything matters. Incidentally, I think it even has recipes, so watch out – I’m liable to give you one for vegetarian keyboard snacks. Anyway, here’s more of the artsy, emotional stuff, because it’s what I’m thinking about at the moment…

The full-length caveman video for Three Doors Down: “Let Me Be Myself” was designated the offical video for the Rules of Work blog. I’ve decided to designate Hands by Jewel as the official Rules of Work blog theme song. It’s got everything that the ROW theme song should have. If you’re skeptical at this point, I present you with just one line: “I won’t be made useless; I won’t be made idle with despair.” For some of you, laid off, worn out, or pushed to the wall, and wondering whether you can reach down into yourself and find whatever it takes to go out again and look for work, or to offer your services up in the marketplace as a contractor, or to make a run at your own business, or just to face another day pillaging your inner resources for the calm, the wildness, the raw gut, or whatever it is you can find to keep swinging at the bag that is the daily grind, this is the right sentiment.

I don’t know what you’re facing. I’m facing the simultaneous thrill of running through an open field – the sense of unprecedented freedom – and likewise  dodging the sharp knives that are the temptation to fear, the attempted bludgeoning by paralyzing worry, and the raining arrows of  proffered self-doubt. Did you think otherwise? If you’re not tempted by these, I think I would worry about that. Why is it so hard to admit temptation? I think the religious traditions that prevail here treat temptation as a failure of character rather than a universal situation that clings to anything it can find – anything that moves anywhere at all, leaving us finally enticed by a desire for absolute stillness, which in medical terms is called a coma. I am tempted. But I said I was dodging the knives, right? And that’s what I’m doing. What about you? Anyway, I think this song is perfect. “Not to worry, because worry is wasteful and useless in times like these.” I think it has all the ingredients a recipe for courage needs – beauty, tenderness, just enough defiance, and a firm resolution to prevail. Way to go, Jewel.