Do You Guys Like Your Jobs? Really? Come On, Be Honest.

[joywitch_m_curmudgeon]

Jenny wrote:
> > If Raul and I won the lottery, I'd probably quit tomorrow and 
> > never work again (I'd volunteer, though).  
> 

Amy wrote:
> I wonder about this sometimes.  I think I'd keep working, because I 
> love my work, and I think having *only* leisure would make me very 
> depressed.  One needs a sense of purpose.  But I might cut down to 
> part-time and have more time to do things like art that I don't 
have 
> much time for now; or I might just volunteer.  

Yeh, I guess I'm the living example of just how bad it can be to have 
too much leisure.  I've been working PT for the last 7 or so years.  
While I was writing my thesis, it was great, because it paid the 
bills and left me enough time to write the damn thing, which occupied 
90% of my energy until a year ago.  Once it was done, though, I was 
left with my whole life (minus 10 hr/wk) for leisure.  For the first 
6 months, it was great.  I imagine lottery winners feel the same 
way.  However, for the last six months, it's been increasingly 
depressing. I'm not really bored, and always busy, since I volunteer 
and have a million hobbies, and as a lot of people including Amy and 
Jenny and Cindy know, being on the admin team of HPfGU can be a 
little (!) on the time-consuming side, especially lately.  But, yeah, 
that sense of purpose.  Without it, life does get depressing.  
Although, just because you have a FT job doesn't mean you have a 
sense of purpose.

Cindy, I wonder if you're not feeling the same thing I am.  I know 
you also do PT consulting work that you're not too stimulated by, and 
maybe your kids are getting old enough that they don't need a FT Mom 
anymore?  Maybe a job that gave you that sense of purpose, even if it 
didn't pay all that well, and even if it wasn't in your field, or 
wasn't exactly in your field, would be better than a well-paying job?

--Joywitch, who definitely does not want to win the lottery