I’ve always had a complicated relationship with work. With my job. Only a few of my jobs have been well-defined or easy to explain. They were the ones with specific set hours, an easily understood title and/or job description. The ones with an actual paycheck every two weeks.
The rest of my jobs have been more vague. Less specific.
“You do what?”
“Do you get paid for that?”
"What exactly is it that you do?”
Most moms in America have had some encounter with the “working mom vs. stay-at-home mom” debate. There has been more than enough confusion and criticism swirling around that topic. I’ve been in the middle of it - both as the subject of conversation and as internal battle within myself. I noticed that once I added foster mom to my list of responsibilities, I felt like I had a little more cred - because maybe that seemed more like work than just being a “regular” mom, but it still was easy to argue with myself as to whether being a mom was a real job or not.
And then there was the whole world of volunteer ministry. Lots of people do volunteer work and lots of people do ministry without pay. And that’s what I did for many years. Once again I dealt with the internal conflict whether it was a real job or not.
When it came to organizing my own time schedule and evaluating my personal dreams and goals, I could confidently claim this “ministry” as my work. But when others asked what I “do” I struggled to articulate it.
In recent years, I’ve turned another corner and have found the courage to call myself a writer. To declare that writing is my work. It is what I “do” now. Once again, there is no clock to punch, no specific hours to be on-duty, no job description and no paycheck, but hey, I’m used to that.
...
Enter retirement. Retired people don’t work anymore. They don’t have a job. They just sit around with time on their hands. Right? They have to find hobbies to fill their time and evidently some of them still get bored.
Nope. Not true for me. I can’t imagine feeling bored. I haven't had to get used to a new schedule because things haven’t changed much for me. Here I was just getting used to this thing of being a writer and carving out a writing schedule. I still don’t seem to be able to find enough hours in the day to keep up with my writing projects. And now that hubby is actually retired, I find myself wanting to join him in at least some of his adventures! But then I have even less time to write. I pretty much always feel behind with my work schedule, but then that is nothing new. I have always been a starter and a dabbler and not such a great finisher.
But it works. It works pretty well, in fact. I’m grateful to have meaningful work that I love. To be passionate about one's job is a privilege. I’m also grateful to have a lifestyle that allows me to continue my work. The necessities for my job are fairly minimal. A small space, a table and chair, my computer, electrical power and internet access - and I’m all set. Or I can be portable - taking my computer along to restaurants for free WiFi. I can also write with just pen and paper. Duh. What a novel idea!
The only thing left to figure out is my work schedule. What hours do I work? Yes, it's true that some of those times when I’m sitting at my computer, I’m NOT writing. Imagine that! Sometimes I’m chatting with a friend. Sometimes I’m wasting time surfing the web. And sometimes I’m even playing Solitaire. *gasp*
My work schedule is fluid. Not rigid in any way. Some weeks the daily schedule is predictable, but many weeks it is not. And that’s okay. I’m adjusting to that idea.
In fact, I am downright loving it.
It’s not just okay;
it is wonderful.
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