WORK GETS IN THE WAY...

Work gets in the way of life. It physically binds me from spending quality time with my son on a daily basis, and sucks precious, irretrievable time away from my writing and my art.

What an odd concept to be brought into a world, into a society, to work for other people, for what seems an eternity, and pay the government a part of what we make and then struggle to make ends meet. What part of this makes sense? I say no part of it makes sense. Why aren't we brought into the world, into societies that allow us to live life, barter for and grow what we need to survive, and get along with our neighbors. Just to tend to small daily chores only necessary for survival and be blessed with the rest of the time to fulfill our every need, be it emotional, physical or spiritual.

The older I get, the more I realize how much time has literally been wasted in getting up early, going to a job (that unfortunately I don't love) and working all day to pay for things I keep in a home that I pay a mortgage on (which in reality, 5 days a week, is a storage facility and overnight motel) and I never really get to spend much time in it doing things with my son or submersing myself into my art.

I think I was born to the wrong country. Isn't there a European country(ries) in which people work when and if they feel like it, take naps during the day, drink wine for lunch and either go back to work, or not? If so, I need to consider moving us there. I would like my son to not have to work as hard as I have, and be miserable all his life. Of course, he already has a life plan (at 15) to go to culinary school and business school and get a degree in both. Thank God he says those things make him happy. If I've done my job as a parent to the best of my ability, he won't have the struggles I have had.

My idea of the ideal life would be to wake up (which is always a good thing), when I got around to it (I'm a morning person, so it would be with the rooster), shower, get dressed, wander out into my extremely large vegetable garden, graze until I was full and call it breakfast. I would then go for a leisurely walk with my camera along to document all the beautiful sights I saw along the way. I would live in an area with a large redwood forest, streams, creeks, rivers and oceans. Beauty would abound with every step I took on this walk. I would them wander home, go back into the garden, graze some more until I was full, and call that lunch and dinner, and then write for awhile. I love to write. I love to create in any fashion, really.

I know that all of this is possible--somewhere--somehow--for some people. I wish I could be one of them. My heart longs to be entirely free to be who I am and express myself in every way possible, without the oppressing shackles of capitalism.

Work sure gets in the way.