I was so caught up in the work of this website that I’m finally now getting a chance to post and still we have lots more to do.
Working on the site, my practice, in the gym, on my novel, and doing the normal chores of housework it came to me that a good topic for discussion would be “WORK!!!” Those of an older generation might hear the sound of that word as coming from one Maynard G. Krebs, he of the Dobie Gillis comedy shows back in the day. Krebs was a slacker and on a continuum of 1-10 was a 1, the most negative of feelings toward anything related to an occupation or to daily chores. He was not a chop wood, carry water kind of guy! (BTW, ask yourself where you are on this ad hoc scale. With 10 being that you enjoy your work so much you can’t wait to do it, to 5 you are neutral about what you do for a living. You go, its okay, and you get your pay but look forward to 5PM and the weekend so you can enjoy your free time, and, of course, 1 at the other end of the scale representing your aversion to lifting a finger.)
Work is crucial, central to our lives. If you think about it, It’s an activity that generates as much anxiety (how are you on Sunday night?), depression, exhiliration, and good feelings about one self as anything else in our lives.
Okay.That’s the topic. So let’s talk about work.
I’d like us to look at our work lives from a psychological and emotional perspective. What does work mean to you? Are you driven, excited, thrilled by it? Do you do it for the money, for ego, for survival? What happens if your job turns bad, you know like when a new boss wants to change everything you’re used to doing? Have you ever been out of work and felt the stress of looking for a new job and felt stress turn into distress as you came to the end of your unemployment benefits without having landed anything? Are you a workaholic, constanly keeping your eyes on the computer or your ear on the cell? Have you been forced to take multiple part-time jobs just to make ends meet? Is your work at home, taking care of children and the household? Do you dream about getting out into the bigger world, or are you content with your domestic role? If you are a homemaker and a parent is your work devalued by those who are close to you (spouse, family members, friends? Or do you devalue yourself?)
There it is, the topic for the week — WORK!!!!
Let us know at Psych ‘n’ Roll Radio what it means to you. You can post anything you want about the subject, an anecdote of your own experience, a question about how to cope with feelings about your job or concerns about being unemployed. Tell us a positive story about what you do for a living, career, business, or what you do for fun but requires you to work at it (e.g. writing a novel, learning how to swing a golf club, learning how to cook, or volunteering at a foundation. A close friend of mine gives his time at a hospice and tells me how he is enriched by the experience). Bring anything of relevance to the topic
I’m Dr. Ike and I’m here to field your concerns, answer your questions, and play some great music related to the topic. And the work that I do for you won’t cost you a penny. I look forward to your contributions.
Let’s start off with Peter Townshend’s “Keep on Working,” followed by the Who and their famous line “meet the new boss same as the old boss” in “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” and finally Wilco’s “Hate it Here,” a song about a man who does housework while he waits for the lover who’d abandoned him to return home.
“Keep On Working” — Peter Townshend