De-Jobbing and Rain
A rainy, cold day today. Last night I started designing a new necklace that's made with pieces of coral that I found in a necklace purchased at a yard sale. I'm still trying to get the spacing correct; I'll post when it's completed.
I spent most of the day grading student blog entries today. For mental breaks, I read "How to Quit Your Job," an interview with Michael Fogler in the April/May 2000 issue of the Mother Earth News (MEN).
Fogler's the author of Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook. My assumption was that this title was a spin on Grace Llewellyn's The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education (an awesome book, by the way). But Llewellyn's book was published in 1998 and Fogler's in 2000. So there you go.
In the MEN interview, Fogler talks briefly about how he quit his job and learned how to de-job his thinking. De-jobbing one's thinking, from what I can gather from this short piece, involves a transformation in which one questions the fundamental assumptions associated with work. For example, we rarely think about how much our jobs cost us, instead we focus on how much we earn from them. In my own case, my job costs me a hell of a lot financially. Because academic jobs in my field are so rare, I essentially have no choice in where I live if I want to work in this field. And my job happens to be in one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S. Food, professional clothing, gas, and utilities are similarly expensive here. Further, I commute 45 minutes each way to get to that job; I can't afford to live closer. Once I pay for all my basic living expenses, I have very, very little discretionary income. And once I add up all the time I spend on my job, including the commuting time and time I spend grading and e-mailing, I have little time left for anything else.
I love what I do and most of the time don't think of it as a job: Most of what I do for my job I'd continue to do even if it wasn't part of my job; I do it because it enriches me as a human being and because I believe it contributes to making the world a better place (even if on a very small scale...). But I think Fogler's point is valid. I could live much less expensively if I chose to earn a living from a different job. And as I contemplate the possibility of having to leave the profession due to disability, I see that I could live much less expensively because I wouldn't have to live in such an expensive place.
From the Fogler interview, I remembered the essay, "The Abolition of Work" by Bob Black. [Full text available free here.]
I'm still working my way through this piece (I come back to it periodically, each time processing a little more), but I will say if you haven't read it, you definitely should. It's a tad hyperbolic, but the core arguments are worth considering.
Black asserts that, "No one should ever work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost all the evil you'd care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working."
Here there's an interesting apparent similarity between his arguments and those of the unschoolers (which I count myself to be). Just as unschoolers make a distinction between schooling (compulsory attendance for a mandated length of time at a state-recognized credentialing institution) and education (the voluntary process of learning), Black is making the distinction between work/wage labor ("selling yourself on the installment plan," forced labor or production enforced by economic means, under the surveillance of bosses) and play (the voluntary doing of useful things).
I definitely want to explore this similarity in greater depth, as I do Black's arguments about the consequences of abolishing work. There is much worth considering here.
I noticed yesterday that my peach tree here in Silver Spring is covered with baby peaches!
My Hellebores are going by, but the maroon ones are still very beautiful. My one complaint about Hellebores is that the flowers hang like upside down cups so you can't see the beautiful insides unless you turn them over. I guess that makes them like secret treasures for those who know to look for them.
I also listened to Neko Case's Middle Cyclone, great choice for a rainy (or a sunny) day. I'm on a bit of a Neko Case kick right now...
In the MEN interview, Fogler talks briefly about how he quit his job and learned how to de-job his thinking. De-jobbing one's thinking, from what I can gather from this short piece, involves a transformation in which one questions the fundamental assumptions associated with work. For example, we rarely think about how much our jobs cost us, instead we focus on how much we earn from them. In my own case, my job costs me a hell of a lot financially. Because academic jobs in my field are so rare, I essentially have no choice in where I live if I want to work in this field. And my job happens to be in one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S. Food, professional clothing, gas, and utilities are similarly expensive here. Further, I commute 45 minutes each way to get to that job; I can't afford to live closer. Once I pay for all my basic living expenses, I have very, very little discretionary income. And once I add up all the time I spend on my job, including the commuting time and time I spend grading and e-mailing, I have little time left for anything else.
I love what I do and most of the time don't think of it as a job: Most of what I do for my job I'd continue to do even if it wasn't part of my job; I do it because it enriches me as a human being and because I believe it contributes to making the world a better place (even if on a very small scale...). But I think Fogler's point is valid. I could live much less expensively if I chose to earn a living from a different job. And as I contemplate the possibility of having to leave the profession due to disability, I see that I could live much less expensively because I wouldn't have to live in such an expensive place.
From the Fogler interview, I remembered the essay, "The Abolition of Work" by Bob Black. [Full text available free here.]
Black asserts that, "No one should ever work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost all the evil you'd care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working."
Here there's an interesting apparent similarity between his arguments and those of the unschoolers (which I count myself to be). Just as unschoolers make a distinction between schooling (compulsory attendance for a mandated length of time at a state-recognized credentialing institution) and education (the voluntary process of learning), Black is making the distinction between work/wage labor ("selling yourself on the installment plan," forced labor or production enforced by economic means, under the surveillance of bosses) and play (the voluntary doing of useful things).
I definitely want to explore this similarity in greater depth, as I do Black's arguments about the consequences of abolishing work. There is much worth considering here.
OUTSIDE
The rain has left everything a lovely, rich green. Here's one the Spiderwort plants. Notice how the magenta in the buds is echoed in the leaves. The contrast between the magenta in the buds and leaves, and the orange of the stamens is freaking fabulous. I was interested to note that the leaves function as little cups to retain water. In the background is a big, mossy rock that I dragged out of the woods a few years ago. I was worried that the moss might die, given that there's more sunlight in this new location, but so far, so good. I've got a bit of a thing about moss and moss covered rocks.
TODAY'S SOUNDTRACK
More Psapp, an album that's new to me, The Only Thing I Ever Wanted. I like it so far. Here' a sample song:I also listened to Neko Case's Middle Cyclone, great choice for a rainy (or a sunny) day. I'm on a bit of a Neko Case kick right now...
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