Work

So I have been thinking a lot about work recently. I find it quite fitting as it has quickly become my life. My fun events are no planned around when I beat a quest in a Zelda game or when my last kill in Halo 3 will be. They are planned around when I get off work, and when I NEED to go to sleep in order to function at work.

Over the past couple years I have come to recognize just how much of a free spirit I am. I love driving around town and walking the streets to see what shop or restaurant or people will catch my eye. I find that I need this type of part in my day. So like all things in life, I have begun to schedule these times around my work schedule. I may head downtown alone for lunch to eat Chipotle.

One of the reasons why I like my job a lot right now is that I feel very free. I never really knew what it would be like to have so much responsibility in the things for which I get paid. I am able to schedule my own 6 week calendar of travel paid for completely by Westmont. It is a cool and scary to think about all the dollars that are going into my "research" and travel about where I will go, and whom I will see, and HOW I will see them. But it is cool indeed.

One big dilemma that has arisen is the issue of how much of work I "bring" from work. Do I talk about work when I get off or is it really important for me to leave those things at the office. I have had a pretty hard time with this, as I notice how much it makes me un-relatable. I spend over 8 hours of my day with the same people doing the same things, and that is a third of my day. It is weird. But I have come to realize that it really is okay. I know that I am no longer in college. The things that I do will never be the same, and work really is a big part of my life now. It is my mission and it is my passion. I think I understand more what it means to do one thing and to do it well. I strive for this in my work.

So as I sit here sipping my glass of wine and being alone after my 8:30am-10pm day of work I feel good. My clothes are ironed and soon I will sleep. I will fade into my dreams and process whatever is on my mind. And tomorrow I will wake, the same as any other day. But, with a different schedule and with something new to be anxious or excited about. And hopefully I will have some sort of party to attend or people to see after my "work" is done.