We Talk Friday
(WTF)
This is a semi-regular series that I will run on Fridays to hold discussions on a current topic from the week gone. The aim is to keep them light and conversational, though some might be heavier - regardless of the content topic itself though, just have some fun engaging and discussing with whoever happens to put in the effort in the comments section below.
We Talk Friday Ep. 20: Treating Symptoms
For something quite different for the We Talk Friday edition, I am pasting a comment I added to a great article on mental burnout in the workplace by @riverflows, which in itself was a response to an article I wrote on burnout a couple days back. One of the things I wish would happen more is that discussions would take place like this, where there are comments and discussions on articles, that spawn other related articles that bring wider perspective or clarity to the conversation. And I love on Hive that it is possible to talk with the OP, and link it all immutably backwards and forwards and create a network of experience.
But enough about that, because the comment was long, and it was an off the cuff stream of freeform thought. Will it make sense? perhaps, perhaps not. But there is a lot of pieces in there that someone could take hold of and flesh out into something else.
Comment
It seems I have touched a nerve, which is good.
Now consider something in regards to the work that you do as a teacher, and the work of a teacher in Finland, or Nigeria or wherever else. Consider the working conditions and the differences and whether you could cope in one, or one of them could cope in your environment.
The thing is, we are conditioned by our environments in pretty much every way, and the environments of today are different than before, for sure. However, are the current environments conducive to building resilience in people? I am not talking just about in the workplace, I am talking about the entire life environment. I don't believe in "work-life balance" etc - there is just life.
So if the rest of our lives have not been or are not conducive to supporting our mental health, why would we expect to get supported in the workplace? And support doesn't mean everyone agreeing with you - I mean that you get what you need when you need it. That doesn't mean what you need feels good, or is comfortable. But if we can keep avoiding the discomfort needed to learn certain skills, it is going to create imbalance across the board. And this means that no workplace will be able to bring balance, because a workplace has to have some level of conformity - plus they are interested only in profits.
Do you see the problem and why it is up to the individual to ensure their overall health, at work and outside of work? The workplace might be able to make some change, but can't possibly cater to every individual. This is a massive problem in a world where for half a century people have been told that their unique individual self is the most important and glorious thing in the world, and due to their uniqueness, they are entitled to whatever they want, without having to take responsibility for their outcomes.
Feelings have been lifted on a pedestal to be the number one focus and that any negative feeling is bad to have. And then people have been told that they are broken, weak, incapable. And then they have been told that they can "do anything" they put their mind to. And that they should have all opportunities available to them. And everyone is equal. And everyone should get the same. And the list goes on with contradictory shit being driven through culture in every aspect of our life, from what we eat, to where we work, and to who we fuck.
We are given a million alternatives and substitutes for every aspect of our life and we are unhappy because of it. Many people aren't happy with their partner, because they don't look like someone else, or act like a different person, or think like a third. And then there is a constant stream of alternatives to scroll and swipe with each saying "I can fill that gap in your life".
But there are only gaps. With so many options and no clear choice, limited by time, resources, energy, intelligence and everything else, we are all in a constant state of FOMO. We want a good job that pays well, but we want to have one that allows us to work 35 hours a week and 50% of that from home. We want a great family experience, but we want to have the people act the way we want them to act, and have the space to be an individual. We want a great social life, but we don't want to help others in need, if it is inconvenient for us, or we don't get anything out of it.
We want everything that we know about that is good, even though we can never fit it all into a single lifetime.
And a single lifetime is all we have, right? Yet we spend it stressed about a job we don't actually care about and are only doing for the money? We spend it scrolling through options we can't afford, or we have no chance of accomplishing? We spend it desiring things out of our reach, trying to get things that are pointless, and spending our energy on so much irrelevancy and useless detail, that we no longer have any energy to do what actually matters to us as an individual.
How does the workplace fix that?
It can't. A company has its shit to do to make money, and like it or not, some things just have to be done. Yes, there is a lot of irrelevant crap that they expect, but here is the kicker - no one has to do it. Everyone, except slaves, can just leave. Yes, there is a cost to leaving a well-paying job, but for most people, they are in an average job and they can probably find another average job. But, no job is going to be perfect without a decent percentage of shit that no one wants to do. Even the best jobs and workplace conditions have the same percentage of crap no one wants to do, because the other stuff is more fun.
And similarly, the easier and better our lives become, the worse things feel when looking at what might have been brilliant earlier. A rags to riches millionaire, still complains about his steak dinner, despite not being able to afford food earlier. We acclimatise to our conditions. It is like driving in an airconditioned car, and then getting out into 45C heat. It becomes unbearable. We have "conditioned" so much of our lives, surrounded ourselves with so much comfort (in many ways) that we feel discomfort very early and we consider that discomfort as bad. But is it?
I see burning out as a symptom of larger issues in individuals, and society as a whole. Yet, rather than looking at the root causes, we keep trying to treat the symptoms. Putting some Dettol on a lesion isn't going to cure AIDS. We are sick as a society and getting sicker, and in the economy and governance we currently have, the workplaces are never going to change enough to make people better. It is up to the individual for themselves, and up to all of us as a society.
The majority of businesses and education that trains people for business, is geared toward creating useless, timewasting shit. If everyone just stopped consuming the shit, most people won't have a job. But then, if everyone started demanding useful shit, everyone would be employed in a job with meaning. A job that contributed to a greater good.
My dad was a teacher for sixty plus years - the sad thing is the majority of his thousands of students are likely working in jobs that don't add real value to the world. They might generate a lot of wealth though.
Taraz
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