Hustle culture

| What jobs have you had?

“None, because when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.” Ugh.

I’ve always felt left out by that phrase. To me, the specific word “job,” versus “career,” “profession,” or “occupation,” is distinctly about what you do out of duty. “It’s my job,” is an answer people shrug off when asked why on earth they do something that seems terrible. You can love your job, but there are always aspects that you will hate, and it will feel like work.

I’ve had jobs as a receptionist, a food worker at a Chipotle knock-off, a research assistant, and as an office worker with a boring bureaucratic title. All for a duty to my boss and my need to live off an income. I’ve had jobs as a sister and a daughter, a duty to my family. Jobs as a student and a teacher and a mentor and a mentee, a duty to the education system and the pursuit of knowledge. Jobs as a citizen of my country and a voter in my district, a duty to civic engagement and social trust. There are other reasons to exist in those roles, but to call them jobs is to call them duties.

If we view our lives as a series of jobs, we’re always hustling. Always fulfilling the duties we pile on top of ourselves. When was the last time you did something that served absolutely no one and absolutely no purpose? Is that possible?