Life is incongruous and full of contrast. One moment we are surfing along, enjoying all the fruits of our hard labour then, it almost seems like it’s in an instant, we are back at the coal face with our nose to the grindstone. Yes, my ten month sabbatical, or interregnum as I have called it, is coming to an end. I have scored a job with a major parcel delivery company. A dogsbodys job, casual, on call, but a job at least. I am not nervous but I am a little melancholy.
It would be great to survive in this world without working. Alas, making a living is one of the necessities of life but it’s a drag. A month ago I was riding a hop on, hop off bus through the streets of Paris. Next week I’m likely to be packing boxes in the back streets of Hume. This laborious life continued!
I am glad to be back working all the same. It hasn’t been a holiday at home all this time. I have felt the stress of not paying my way, or at least feeling I’m not so getting a little bit of cash flowing again on my own behalf will be a relief. But it’s not a life I intend to live forever. I don’t want a job with inflexible hours. I don’t want to be stood over by the man. This job will be fine for a little while but the search for satisfaction will continue.
I’m sure there are people happy in their working lives. But I feel the other end of the scale is riper. Those who plod away for hours each day, watching the clock, secretly scorning their bosses and workmates, living only for the sweet sound of the home time whistle on Friday surely are in the majority. That used to be me. I don’t want to feel that way again.
So, it’s with some relief and a smidgeon of trepidation that I embark on this new chapter of my life. The beautiful vistas of Scotland, the medieval splendour of Oxford and the grandeur of Paris begin to fade and retreat through the foggy caverns of my mind. I am treating the next few months as a means to an end. Getting out, gaining experience, putting myself in a position to do what I want to do whilst looking for greener opportunity.
I’ll keep you posted.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 