The Value of Work

Written while I was working, but not posted then, as I had to rush off to work some place else. And such is life being lived.


I have a few different jobs, none of which has set hours. They're all on-call positions, usually with pretty pressing time limits and demands. I never know when I might be working or off. I'm always ready, and sometimes called.


I love this kind of work. It allows me to re-focus my attention in a minute's notice to something other than I had been focusing it on. It calls for my mental preparedness, my intellect, my attention to detail. Since it comes at random times, it often feels like it's a direct message from the universe, "Quit worrying about that. Look over here and be useful."I have a tendency to get fixated -- on my kids, my interests, the goings on in my life. Then I get a call or an e-mail, and I have to quit thinking about whatever I was thinking about and attend to the business at hand. 


My work life gives me respite. It clears my head. It re-centers me. It gives me much needed perspective when I'm being far too subjective about my own life. I'm thankful for the reprieve I get from dealing with the day-to-day life of single-motherhood, personhood, citizenship. I'm thankful for the re-direct, the cue from the universe to let things go, be patient, take a breath, let it ride for now.


I'm not sure how people with set schedule jobs view their work-life. Mine's an interactive path. It's alive and lively and constantly shifting. I'm thankful for the variety and I'm thankful for the people in my life who understand last minute plan changes. I'm thankful for being able to work from home. I'm thankful for working away from home. I truly love it all.