My usual Sunday malaise has set in and I am sitting here thinking of the things I should be doing rather than actually doing them.
The weeks go by in such a flash that I never seem to get anything done and when I get to a weekend just sitting and being a vegetable seems to be justifiable. I guess a definition could be applied to it. Laziness!
So be it. I work reasonbly hard all week, I like to take a break when one comes along. I don’t work physically hard, at least in comparison to anyone on a building site or such although ocassionally a situation arises where one has to put in some sort of effort and standing about all day on concrete floors is not the easiest thing in the world to do but much of the hardship of work comes from a mental strain. Again, not a strain in comparison to hard decision making or high stress levels but the strain of tedium and putting up with the same thing day after day and some of the annoying people I have to deal with, day after day.
The trouble with this mental strain is that it does at times threaten to squander one’s good character, usual humour set aside and another part of our demeanour can emerge from behind the iron door which protects others from the excesses of our personalities. A door which many keep securely locked at all times.
This sort of thing can occur when hours are spent on a letter sorting machine which at times feels like one is traversing a mountain range of despair and the devil is flicking your ear, saturating you in ill-will towards your fellow man, increasing tension and ill-humour as you gaze out from behind the letter processing machinary and watch others who escape such trials due to imaginary afflictions, gaily flaunt their advantages, laughing and talking, ignoring the sanctitity of duty they owe to the customers, their colleagues and to themselves, the gallishness of their behaviour a peculiar blight on their usually impeccable attributes.
But time rolls on as it does everyday and after a few hours release from the machine eases the burden, the haze is lifted and once again those who rort the system by feigning injury are no longer a mortal enemy and the wiles they use to convince you of their virtue once again overwhelm any feeling of disdain about them which may have welled up in the pit of your soul due to the laboriousness of the previous hours.
This isn’t to say that all is suddenly well in our little world and those who labour under a presumed injury which seems unjustifiable in the circumstances aren’t neccesarily given a free pass and an entitlement to credibility but it is much easier to get along by going with the flow and learning to get by rather than make a song and dance about things which annoy you, which is listened to by fewer and fewer people the louder and longer you go on about it. Better to find your own little corner of life and make the best of things.
And so we have reached Sunday, that beacon which stands tall and erect urging us forward all week over the pitted road of life until we arrive at it’s base, gazing upwards towards it’s all consuming light, worshipping it like the ancients worshipped their imaginary entities, knowing that the joy provided by the sabbath will soon dissipate and we will be once again thrust into the dirty waters of drudgery, a workday Monday. We will fight for our lives all week, swimming against the current, avoiding the sociopaths and recalcitrants flowing downstream, arms flailing looking for another victim to latch onto and take to the murky depths, a companion to wallow in mire with, to infect with their narcissistic and petulant ways. Another victim to feed upon.
Of course in my case there is more joy than usual in the anticipation of reaching the end of the week. Two weeks of holiday will follow if I can navigate the passage of the week without holing my lifeboat and make it to Friday, a holiday in the paradise of Fiji a reward for my perserverance.
So to all those who once again have to go out and face the enemy for another week with no relief in sight, I salute you. Make the best of it and just keep putting one foot in front of the other and the shimmering light will descend on you eventually and another weekend off will be your reward. Good luck to all.
The weeks go by in such a flash that I never seem to get anything done and when I get to a weekend just sitting and being a vegetable seems to be justifiable. I guess a definition could be applied to it. Laziness!
So be it. I work reasonbly hard all week, I like to take a break when one comes along. I don’t work physically hard, at least in comparison to anyone on a building site or such although ocassionally a situation arises where one has to put in some sort of effort and standing about all day on concrete floors is not the easiest thing in the world to do but much of the hardship of work comes from a mental strain. Again, not a strain in comparison to hard decision making or high stress levels but the strain of tedium and putting up with the same thing day after day and some of the annoying people I have to deal with, day after day.
The trouble with this mental strain is that it does at times threaten to squander one’s good character, usual humour set aside and another part of our demeanour can emerge from behind the iron door which protects others from the excesses of our personalities. A door which many keep securely locked at all times.
This sort of thing can occur when hours are spent on a letter sorting machine which at times feels like one is traversing a mountain range of despair and the devil is flicking your ear, saturating you in ill-will towards your fellow man, increasing tension and ill-humour as you gaze out from behind the letter processing machinary and watch others who escape such trials due to imaginary afflictions, gaily flaunt their advantages, laughing and talking, ignoring the sanctitity of duty they owe to the customers, their colleagues and to themselves, the gallishness of their behaviour a peculiar blight on their usually impeccable attributes.
But time rolls on as it does everyday and after a few hours release from the machine eases the burden, the haze is lifted and once again those who rort the system by feigning injury are no longer a mortal enemy and the wiles they use to convince you of their virtue once again overwhelm any feeling of disdain about them which may have welled up in the pit of your soul due to the laboriousness of the previous hours.
This isn’t to say that all is suddenly well in our little world and those who labour under a presumed injury which seems unjustifiable in the circumstances aren’t neccesarily given a free pass and an entitlement to credibility but it is much easier to get along by going with the flow and learning to get by rather than make a song and dance about things which annoy you, which is listened to by fewer and fewer people the louder and longer you go on about it. Better to find your own little corner of life and make the best of things.
And so we have reached Sunday, that beacon which stands tall and erect urging us forward all week over the pitted road of life until we arrive at it’s base, gazing upwards towards it’s all consuming light, worshipping it like the ancients worshipped their imaginary entities, knowing that the joy provided by the sabbath will soon dissipate and we will be once again thrust into the dirty waters of drudgery, a workday Monday. We will fight for our lives all week, swimming against the current, avoiding the sociopaths and recalcitrants flowing downstream, arms flailing looking for another victim to latch onto and take to the murky depths, a companion to wallow in mire with, to infect with their narcissistic and petulant ways. Another victim to feed upon.
Of course in my case there is more joy than usual in the anticipation of reaching the end of the week. Two weeks of holiday will follow if I can navigate the passage of the week without holing my lifeboat and make it to Friday, a holiday in the paradise of Fiji a reward for my perserverance.
So to all those who once again have to go out and face the enemy for another week with no relief in sight, I salute you. Make the best of it and just keep putting one foot in front of the other and the shimmering light will descend on you eventually and another weekend off will be your reward. Good luck to all.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 