Monday, March 30, 2009

When Work Effects My Community

When you get busy at work its really easy to turn in on yourself, and your interests and ignore the outside community. Sometimes, I find this happening to myself. These days, I have a full time job along with a new contract and a new volunteer gig. I'm excited about all of this, but also conscious that over the next three-four weeknights I'm going to be at work/working for most of the night.

That means little time to see my lovely partner and even less to see my wonderful friends. It also leads to more time perched in front of the computer and less time wandering the Drive, shopping at the Co-op, sipping Java at the bump and grind, or volunteering at a Climate Cafe. Even reading and cooking (my two big passions) seem to fall by the wayside. These are all things that make my community worth living in, and unfortunately, they're also the things that seem very often the first to drop by the wayside.

Finding the work, life, balance in a routine of work, life, hustle can be tricky. I think these days, more than anything else, it's important to be, at the very least, conscious of these issues. Many people aren't and woe is them. The other trick is to make sure that its a short term issue and doesn't turn into a long term problem.

3 comments:

Theodora Lamb said...

It's a bit like a rollercoaster - we go thru these periods of relative calm and then all of a sudden - BAM! You're wondering where the time went to poach eggs.

Experience is our gift that we pass on to the next generation. The trick is to remember to pass on our love to our friends and family, here and now.

You're doing a great job, Kurt.

John Horn said...

I like the flames and how they imply hell and/or soul-selling. That's a pretty apt metaphor.

We're in the midst of an amazing culture shift right now, too. Yesterday I learned that many North American urbanites are withdrawing from busy, high-paying careers in cities for more balanced lives in smaller cities/towns. Something about "realizing people are a part of nature and therefore surrounding themselves by it."

Neo and the oracle will tell you it's always about choice, Kurt Buddy. Just be sure to remember you always have a choice.

Stewart Burgess said...

Have you ever seen the movie "yesman" -- saying yes all of the time end up with love or terrosim...

don't worry -- community is also about taking.

= )