Day 13: Western Culture- Work, Wrk, Woke

I wake up at 7am, the sun streaming through my blinds. I stretch and rub my eyes awake. Though my body feels like I need about 10 hours more sleep. When did I go to bed last night? Did I ever enter a deep sleep? What did I do yesterday to make my body and my life feel so drained? I'm only 22.7 years young.

I recall watching a documentary year ago, and I wish my brain would have stored the title for this purpose, but it didn't. However, it was about working life around the world. It showed working class in America and Canada, then in many places in Europe. I remember seeing the difference in behaviours with the difference in schedules. In the Western world, we typically work very heavy work schedules. Sometimes we like it, but we are always burnt out, in turn making a lot of people rather unhappy or grumpy.

Then I remember in the documentary, they did interviews with people that worked in places like Italy. The workers seemed so joyful and peaceful. They worked shorter shifts, and got one hour paid lunch! WHAT. After seeing that, I was starting to wonder about why we don't get our tiny 30 minutes lunch paid for. It's not like we enjoy our lunch sitting in a tiny storage closet that is rather dirty, eating our sammies. Well, that's my experience anyway. It's just weird because it's not like we can often go home and eat lunch with family, or roommates, or really truly enjoy our lunch break as if we weren't still at work.

Maybe I will enjoy my not paid lunch break whenever I get a job that I actually really enjoy. As much as I like working at a thrift store, I just feel a lot of pressure to get my life moving. Which is sad. I am young, but it's that age where you have finished a three year program, and are onto another. Which makes you feel like you should be in an industry, making money. If we didn't have people breathing down our necks watching over our every move, we would probably be less worried about our future, and just live. However, this is the way that one went.

Western culture is any nation, region, state etc, that has been westernized. Though, the way we work in Canada and America is completely different from all other westernized areas. I think that here, we are workaholics. That's all we do, whether we have to do it to live, or we do it for the greed of money, and things. The day that I enjoy work, I don't think I would mind overworking, because if you like your work then it doesn't feel like work.

Right now, I'm working for several reasons. I live at home right now because of Covid19, and studying online. So, it's not like I have to make money to pay rent. I just buy some groceries from time to time. Though, living in Toronto for a little over three years opened my eyes to how expensive living is. Also, how hard it can be to find a job, even minimum wage. Working in the city is very competitive, depending on your field. So, I told myself that I would work as much as possible while I'm back home to save up for my inevitable return. I also felt like I needed to keep busy so I wouldn't go crazy, not leaving the house.

Right now I'm in school 4 days a week, plus assignments, and I work 5 days a week, around my school schedule. I'm not in the worst possible situation, but I don't know how people do it. There is not a morning that goes by that I don't wake up tired, and there is not a day that goes by that I feel completely happy. What is happiness though?

Most of the time the need to work outweighs the want to work. How can we change that? How can we want to go to work but not overwork ourselves to the point of hating a job, or life?

I guess we must just keep on moving forward, and one day it will all make sense. One day I will be happy hopefully in all walks of life. One day I will want to go to work more than anything. One day, I will enjoy my lunch break. Ah, maybe I'll just become self-employed.

I feel like this was a really depressing blog post. Though this is how I'm feeling today, overworked, overtired. It happens. It will be okay.

The Killers: Mr. Brightside https://youtu.be/gGdGFtwCNBE

We just have to continue to try looking on the bright side, and it will all work out.

Also, I want to recommend watching AUDREY the documentary on Netflix about Audrey Hepburn. It's quite good. Also quite sad. There was one quote from her granddaughter that resignated with me. She said: "For the woman who is most loved in the world to have such a lack of love is so sad." Audrey went through so much in her life, and through most of the years she kept quiet about her struggles, and kept that smile on her face. Another rather sad thing is that she never got her dream, she became famous in film and for her iconic image. Though with that fame she never got her dream of becoming a ballet dancer. She didn't have money so she went into acting to try and make money, and they she just got so deep into it, she was talented. She was such a remarkable woman who knew great sadness, but in the end I believe she found happiness and love. Sometimes it's hard to find but I believe we all will, if you haven't already. TRAILER: https://youtu.be/DOY77nyd6fY

BEE YOU

BEE WELL

We got this.

Thanks for reading human work machines.

x

Kailee