Soul Survivor

I'm eager to get right to the moaning, groaning and all-'round general complaining that comes along with one's job, but I'm being pulled back to this business of work. To me, work isn't just the thing that I do to keep a roof over my head, food on the table and litter in the cat box. Work is everything that I do that gives some measure of meaning to my life. Career, job, occupation, labor, service, accomplishment and any other path that allows me to make myself and the world a better place. If a paycheck happens to come attached to it, so much the better.

I recently watched The Actor's Studio, a television program. The guest was Roseanne, whose last name used to be Barr, but I don't know what it is now. At the end of the program, the student audience is allowed to ask questions of the guest. One of them asked something about her work, what gives her pleasure or something, and the answer was writing. Which led to Roseanne saying that one of the things that she wants is to use her newest venture to provide opportunities for young people to work in an environment that isn't dead, dying, or uncreative, just so that they could be paid.

While I've always been able to keep a roof over my head, my family fed and the kitties from using my bed as a toilet, I've been fortunate, one might even say blessed, to be able to do work that was important to me. I've never been forced to take a job that demeaned me, or where I was misused or abused. And the few bosses or co-workers who were less than empowering are just a small blip when there are so many people who are compelled to take jobs and do work that doesn't support them as loving, caring, feeling beings. You may be one of them. Even if your job isn't hellacious, you may still find yourself working for or with people who are too busy working out their own, personal demons to be effective or decent people. Then, there's the stress and unpleasantness of having to spend the better part of your day working with people who run the gamut from annoying jerks to outright creeps.

Many of us find that when we joined the team of a particular company, we did so because we found them to be in sync with our beliefs, but that, over time, the company policies changed until they bore little resemblance to the place that first attracted us. That is what happened with the bookstore. Last week a friend said that this bookstore used to be a bookstore that happened to be located in a mall. Now it's a mall store that happens to sell books. Yep, that's exactly what all those corporate changes have wrought over the years. There were, of course, many things for the better. Cost effective ordering systems, and effective and inventive merchandising changes are just two of the areas of possible improvement. Bookstores are not immune from the financial constraints and pressures of a competitive market. Even I'm smart enough to understand that. But, the tenor of the corporation has moved from a belief that serving our customers is our most important focus and goal, to all manner of stupid stuff that gets in the way of assuring that we meet the needs of those very same customers.

The end of the world? Of course not. Is this the worst place out there? Again, of course not. Put into perspective, this kind of work environment is, clearly, not at the level of one that is physically dangerous, one that chips away at your self-esteem, one where you feel intimidated or threatened, one where you are sexually harassed, or one that endangers you, your body, mind or soul, in any way.

But, it does address the issue of being able to live a meaningful life. Whatever your personal circumstances, you have a right to do work that gives you pleasure and that supports you as a person. You have a right, at the end of your day, to know that the world is a better place for having you and your work in it. For most of my adult life, I have been blessed with all of that. I think that part of my working-life success is that I try to find the meaning, even if I have to struggle to do so. Making lemonade out of lemons doesn’t result in just a tasty beverage, it is also that old, sappy saying about taking the bad things that life offers you and transforming them into something divine. Ultimately, you are responsible for your bad work place; you stay and be miserable, you work to make the place bearable, or find the wisdom and strength to know when to cut your losses and leave to find a place that better suits you. That’s my philosophy and I’m sure that I will be putting it to good use during my time spent in the beast.

The next couple of months are going to be a circus of delights, thrills, irritations and challenges.

I can hardly wait.