A Short Lesson in Perspective ...interesting read for creative types

low odor

http://www.businessinsider.com/its-not-worth-it-linds-reddings-short-lesson-in-perspective-2012-11

the link to the full essay is in the article

aesir

As someone that works in advertising on the creative side.... well. yea.

I think it's a very American trait to look at your job and judge your life by it. The first time you meet someone you almost can't help but ask "So, what do you do?" And we all know what we mean by "do." It's awful! Why do we look at our lives that way?

ysalex

I read the article earlier and there was a very anti-capitalist part of me that wanted to agree with everything he said because some of it fits my own worldview.

But examining a little further:

>Can you marry art and commerce and be fulfilled as a human being? Redding concludes the answer is no. His story could apply to anyone's job, in any industry.


How did he conclude this? He participated in one small silver of a huge gamut of commerce, and an even smaller sliver of 'art'. I'm not trying to take away from his achievements because he seems to have risen to a place of prominence in his industry. But even a guy in that position has only experienced a tiny sliver of things, there are huge numbers of people who have married commerce and art in a fulfilling way. I suspect a large part of his opinion is informed by the type of commerce he participated in, advertising.

I think a lot of his negativity from it actually stems from this:

>"Countless late nights and weekends, holidays, birthdays, school recitals and anniversary dinners were willingly sacrificed at the altar of some intangible but infinitely worthy higher cause. It would all be worth it in the long run…"

Which is a much different problem anyways, since this is an issue of life balance. This should be apparent to anyone, it shouldn't take a life ending illness to come to the conclusion that you shouldn't ignore your family and friends in order to get further ahead at work.

iadagraca

>Can you marry art and commerce and be fulfilled as a human being? Redding concludes the answer is no. His story could apply to anyone's job, in any industry.

I think the article writer said this not him.

kanga

These are stories from people who lost control of their lives and lost sight of what was important to them.

Joao Sapiro

""I haven’t seen my wife since January, I can't feel my legs any more and I think I have scurvy but another three weeks and we'll be done. It's got to be done by then The client’s going on holiday. What do I think?"

What do I think?

I think you're all f

---

mad. Deranged. So disengaged from reality it's not even funny. It's a f

---

TV commercial. Nobody gives a s---."

Beautifull !!

heyeye

Everything in moderation.

I think it's very easy to get addicted to your job as it is with anything. If anything this article is an eye opener to those who have sacrificed better for worse.

Joopson

Honestly, I can't even imagine being in a work situation where I'm ok with not coming home after an 8 (or at most, 10) hour work day. This whole "Work is life" mentality is one of the major issues with the modern world. There's so much more going on, and if all you do is focus on your work, you'll be a very narrow person.

It's one thing if you love your work to the extent where you feel like it's legitimately your major calling in life, beyond anything else. But I suspect it's not that way for most people who get sucked into overworking.

The most important thing is balance, and one has to realize that one works to live, and doesn't live to work.

Everybody's different, but yeah, there's nothing brag-worthy about not seeing your family and not being home for extended periods. That's called being neglectful and unhealthy; especially if it's with any regularity.