Working 9 to 5...

I have been wondering why I've felt a little down this week, and the reason dawned on me this morning - I no longer get to see the sun. The reception area where I work, while very open and bright, has no windows, so I don't see outside except on my way there and back. And it's now dark when I leave the house in the morning, and dark when I get home. I'm not getting my vitamin A! Or is it vitamin D? Whichever one that exposure to the sun produces.


The more I experience of the 9-5 world of office work, the more I'm convinced that it's not a natural way of life. Most people in North America, myself included, spend the majority of their day doing something of no real value, in the sense that their profession exists as either a result of or an outlet for our surplus wealth (dog grooming, anyone?). We send our kids off to be looked after and taught by others, and relegate the elderly and infirm to "old folks' homes." Most of the population, and particularly the urban population, has never produced any of their own food, and has no idea where it actually comes from except in the abstract sense - they know that milk comes from a cow, but they don't know where that cow is. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with being a city-dwelling dog groomer who sends their kids to daycare, has their parents in a home and has never seen a cow. I just can't help thinking that there must be a better way. I don't know what that way would necessarily look like, but I think it would involve a great deal of simplification in our lives. It would be necessary to completely re-examine, on both an individual and a societal level, the values that cause us to spend so much of our time, effort and money on things/services that we don't need, and often don't really want.

Just a thought...