To Thrive in the Thickets
Any one of us committed to the pursuit of a creative ideal, or a life of earnest, authentic expression of one’s true self, generally holds themselves to a high standard of intellectual and personal autonomy. There is an instinctive caution, or reluctance within us to subscribe, serve or speak for institutions and ideas that are inherently flawed or outright failing to meet a requisite criteria of moral, intellectual or even aesthetic sensibilities. Naturally, for many of us, a great challenge arises when we become embroiled in the graceless machinations of human whims that exert themselves upon the work and wellbeing of others.
One’s pursuit of fatherhood, fidelity and creativity does not excuse us from the necessity of gainful employment. More often than not it exacerbates it, as we naturally need to provide for our families whilst creating meaning and mirth in other artistic disciplines. To those of us who are blessed enough to create their art without the burden of other employment, my hat goes off to you. I count myself lucky enough to love my labours from 9 to 5. Perhaps not as much as I love this, but the humility and stability of it helps me sleep at night, especially as I don’t have to wonder how we’re going to pay our bills and feed our seven little ones. We have shelter, sustenance, heating and chickens - more than most in such a broken world.
But the stability that such employment brings certainly has its own dangers. We’re often faced, on a daily basis, with the varying degrees to which an organisation can distort and derail the good intentions and designs of so many. We see and feel firsthand just how any institution can be fraught with bureaucracy, acrimony and misdirection. Even those of us serving the seemingly just pursuit of education and empowerment become waylaid by the fads and false gods that plague any organised human endeavour. It can become impossible not to become caught up, weighed down, distracted and alarmed by our contexts, our constraints and calamities. We may come to realise, in due time, that not all services can scale to meet the needs of such diverse clientele, such entrenched challenges, with the blunt instrument of an outdated and industrial era approaches.
Nevertheless, you have a role, a purpose, a community to serve and an ideal to uphold. The moral imperative, and the sheer joy of it, should impel you to create meaning and purpose, truth and grace wherever you toil to pay your bills. There is an undervalued romance in the simple human interactions that make up a given workday. Even separated from the work itself, the occasion to commune, collaborate and conspire with those around us is a gift in itself. We can revel in the eccentricities and proclivities of people altogether different, and sometimes remarkably alike to ourselves. There is an unadulterated joy that comes with sharing the simple successes, the losses, the failures and the flaws of our lives. One can break bread, break silences, express truth, grace, and bring beauty to any given moment shared with another in our midst. This we all know, even if we can tend to forget it.
Furthermore, your work, your own vocation, can be imbued with great value, purpose and efficacy, no matter what turmoil surrounds it. If need be, you can become adept at creating an expression of your work that speaks for itself, that sings with its own autonomy and sensibility that bears little resemblance to the madness that surrounds it. We can create great works, conducive relationships, illuminative and inspiring contexts for others to thrive in, if we can find our own particular way to reject the banality and superficiality of the bloated systems and fractured cultures that surround us.
It is about creating and maintaining that meaning, that verve that allows us to learn, thrive, innovate and grow. It requires a deft dismissal of all that fails to serve you - or those you serve - in order to act with clarity, creativity and decisiveness. So do not be disheartened by the constraints, by the context. If you can and you must, move on to find what you need to bring life to your intentions and desires.
But if you stay, refuse to be broken by it. Every moment grants more liberty and autonomy than we’re usually willing to admit. To ourselves and to those who toil around us. So use it for all it’s worth. Create something remarkable, memorable, touching and true - in the humble and quiet moments, as much as those that spill out into the lives of countless others.