What do you do?
Something that came up earlier after talking with a friendly co worker, the conversation came up around work. Not the work we were doing, but the idea of work. My answer? I hate work. And work is not something that we should to define us. This will seem like a sudden shift in topic but bear with me.
I know deep down, I sincerely hate this question: what do you? Because I can always predict the answer will be something related to work. And yet, that seems to tell me nothing about you. To me, answers like that are dry, and not interesting. When I or hear someone ask, what do you? I want to hear something that says something about you, as a person. What art do you enjoy, what problems you like to fix, what shows you find enriching, what book kept you up at night, and so on. I'm sure you get the idea, "Those sound like hobbies!" True! But hobbies are a weird area for my mind, because after all, it's something you do. So, why not talk about your hobbies as a part of you. You are doing it anyways, right?
The point of it all is this, we are people after all. We are not here to push dollars in our overlord's pockets. We exist on this forsaken earth, to express ourselves and to enjoy our autonomy. Why not celebrate the things we do that make us happy. They are activities that truly can allow us to express our imaginations. And the things you hear, the smiles you see, when someone is asked about something they enjoy. It is its own kind of magic that I think many people are missing out on.
I do believe we need some sort of change in our mindset when we ask these types of questions. And to change the expectation on the answers we provide. I think this way we can try to be more empathetic to each other, and find ways to connect.
And now, dear reader, what do I do? It would be remiss of me to not include some of the things I like to do:
- running DnD campaigns
- creating DnD campaigns (you can find a couple posts on it here and here)
- hang out with friends (especially under a starry night)
- paint minis
- reading both nonfiction and fiction (Currently on Animal Liberation Now by Peter Singer)
- as much as i believe video games are bullshit, i still enjoy playing them
- going to live shows
- walking the dogs
- going for a walk for myself
- occasional solitude
- I'm practicing guitar again!
- listening to people talk
This is all half baked, but i felt the want to get this out in the ether, thank you for your time here.
So, what do you do?