I was thinking about something this morning.  I had gone to Reiki last night (I try to get in every 3 weeks) and my Reiki master and I were discussing work. 

We’ve known each other for more than 20 years and we used to work in the same corporate bank together.  She was laid off in 2023 and I was laid off in 2026.  She actually used to report to me for a while.  But she was always a hard worker.  I was too.  And now that she’s been laid off, not only does she do Reiki, she has a few YouTube channels as well as she will on occasion stream tarot readings, but her main “job” is Shipt orders.  And she loves it.  She’ll work 12-13 hour days and keeps going until the orders dry up.  She gets to basically set her own hours.  She works for herself really.  And that makes all the difference. 

Now my circumstances are a little bit different.  I’m still on unemployment while I figure out what I’m doing.  I have been job searching and my resume is up to date, mostly.  But I’m also trying to start some of my own businesses.  And I keep regular working hours during the week while I write and learn, do research.  And she’s right.  I also enjoy working.  Given the opportunity to do nothing or to work, and I will gladly work. 

I know that her and I are probably a different species.  I know at least 3 people off hand that given the choice between work and not working, they would choose not working every time.  And what I mean by that is they would rather lay around on the couch playing video games or just doing anything besides something that resembles work in any way.  Including chores.  Which I also do with aplomb.

So what separates us?  Why would someone willingly do work when they don’t need to?  Is it drive?  The need to feel productive? 

Even with all of the things I have going on, I’m also volunteering 3-4 times a week at a cat rescue.  I basically have two full time jobs and I feel more fulfilled making no money than I did making tons of money when I had a “regular job”. 

The only caveat to this is when I have a migraine.  When that happens I can’t do anything.  So perhaps that’s why every other day that I’m feeling well I want to get as much done as possible.  Having a chronic illness definitely separates people from those who don’t have a chronic illness.

I also prefer to get up relatively early.  Granted, I’m only getting up around 7 when I used to get up at 6, but its still earlier than some people get up.  I actually want to get up earlier, but I refuse to set an alarm.  I naturally roll out of  bed at that time.  Of course, having cats wake you up because they’re hungry and tired of your crap is also helpful.  That’s the best alarm there is really. 

And I like getting up early.  (I also like to stay up late sometimes too).  I feel like the earlier I get up the more I can get done.  And I’m not sure why I feel that way.  The day is mine.  I don’t have a job I need to get to.  I can get up whenever I want and use the day in whatever way satisfies me.  I could get up at noon and still do the same amount of work and go to bed at 3am.  I guess I’ve always been more of an early riser and it just helps with my mental state. 

Long story short, I like to work.  Whether that’s spending half the day writing, or the entire day working on some sewing piece and recording it, then spending another day editing that video, or taking a course on LinkedIn, or researching a new topic for a story.  It brings me happiness to work. 

And I’ll admit this to you, I enjoyed what I did at my corporate job.  Maybe not all of it.  But I definitely enjoyed the writing, the research, the putting together of presentations.  Which is almost what I’m doing now, if in a different fashion and clearly for an entirely different audience.  So maybe that’s the correlation?  I’ll have to think about that more. 

What inspires you?  Do you enjoy working, whatever that means to you?  Or would you prefer to just sit around and play video games all day, or just watch TV?  Drop me a line.  I’d be interested to hear what you have going on and what your preference is.