What is work?

[Srbo]

Hi.

I need some help, cause I am confused on this, pretty much my whole life.

What is work, what do you classify as real work?
For instance, lets talk about writing, since this is a writers board of course.
Is writing work, or something you simply have to do because you have a God given talent to do it?
Sure, you have to work on your talent, but what does that mean? It means you are going to sit down and write thousands and thousands of words, you are also going to sit down ( or lay down if you prefer ) and read thousands of books so you have the tools to write, as Steve would say.
Or singing...you either have an ear for it, or you don`t. Then you work on that talent, holler as hard as you can, take lessons and simply sing your heart out.
Same with painting...there are techniques to be learned about how to do it, you learn them, cause you have a talent for it, and then you paint.
Or any other artistry, I hope you get my point.
But is that real work or something you were simply born with and it`s just a diamond in the ruff that needs to be polished until it shines.
Is driving a cab work, or you just sit on you butt and drive people around?

But, lets look at people who do construction. Or they lay pipes on an oilfield. Or work on a farm from dusk till dawn. They bend, they squat, their back, legs, arms and whatnot suffer tremendously all day long cause they actually work.
Nobody is born with a "talent" to do so, you actually physically work.

I mean, I can`t bend my mind around that.
When Socrates got up in the morning and went to sit in the sun in front of his house, thought about the World, life and the way things are and then wrote down his thoughts - did that guy go to work or what?
I mean, if that is work, than everybody always works, since you always think.

Or is work anything you do and get paid for doing so, no matter what you do and everything else is a hobby?
So, what about doing household chores then? That`s not work? Raising a child - is that work? "Working" on your marriage?

I simply need to know what work is - when your whole body aches because of the type of work you did that day...or you sit on your butt and think about something?

Please discuss this in any way you sit fit, give me examples and so on - cause I sure am not clear on all this.
Maybe this all sounds silly to you, but it`s not silly for me.

Thank you.

[Natjen26]

I think "Work" is whatever we don't want to do with our time, but that we have to do.
In my case.. my job is work, cleaning the house is work, even visiting the in-laws is work

but reading is not, the same goes for writing, or going for a walk. You look forward to do those things, you are probably thinking about doing just that while you are "working".
But I did come to realise that having no "work", isn't the answer. When you have too much time to do what you want to do, it eventually becomes "work". The trick is to find the perfect balance between what we want to do and what we have to do. IMO anyway.

[Kim L.]

It's all work. You can love or hate what you do, have a talent for it or not. When I do the work I get paid for, I use my mind much more than my body. When I play music, my body is much more involved and the more my mind stays out of it the better. When my daughter was little, both body and mind were hard at work!
The capacity to love and to work is what keeps us healthy.

[Haunted]

I had some friends, he worked construction and she worked in a bank manager. At the end of the day, both would come home exhausted. BUT, he maintained because he worked with his body he was the one that was really tired. She maintained that because she had so much responsibility that she was the one who was truly tired. I would tell them, having held jobs that either required physical strength or mental acuity, that they were both right and that they should respect the other's feeling about their work.

[sueb84]

I've always considered work to be something that you laboured at. For instance I hate doing laundry, my hubby does it for me for the most part. I have always hated doing it, ever since I was a little girl. However, I don't consider cleaning house housework. it's something that needs to be done and I don't mind doing it. Laundry is work.

[~Ally~]

I had some friends, he worked construction and she worked in a bank manager. At the end of the day, both would come home exhausted. BUT, he maintained because he worked with his body he was the one that was really tired. She maintained that because she had so much responsibility that she was the one who was truly tired. I would tell them, having held jobs that either required physical strength or mental acuity, that they were both right and that they should respect the other's feeling about their work.

Very true, and some of us do work where we rely on both the physical and mental aspects. I know I do in my job.
I come home physically aching and mentally tired and always find it difficult, if not impossible, to shut off.
My back and joints feel like that of an 80year old woman, and I'm slowly becoming forgetfull so will soon have the mind to match. That's scary.
In my case work is damn hard!

[Mary Strickland]

What about this? "If you can earn a living doing what you love, you will never work a day in your life". I have heard this countless times.

[bugaboosy]

work is what you do so you can afford to do what you want to do!!
i think tho there is a difference between work and career and sometimes you can just love what you do no matter what kind of job it is ...what someone might think is a nasty job and one they wouldnt do for quids someone else may simply love love love that job and cant wait to get up each day to do it

[SharonC]

I had some friends, he worked construction and she worked in a bank manager. At the end of the day, both would come home exhausted. BUT, he maintained because he worked with his body he was the one that was really tired. She maintained that because she had so much responsibility that she was the one who was truly tired. I would tell them, having held jobs that either required physical strength or mental acuity, that they were both right and that they should respect the other's feeling about their work.

I had the same problem with my ex. Same situation. He worked construction and I was a legal assistant. Granted, office work is not as physically tiring but some days I would be totally wiped out just from the stress of having to deal with banks, real estate agents, building contractors and clients. There are different types of work, in my opinion. There is the work we have to do to earn a living - our paid work. Sometimes we are lucky enough to actually enjoy this. There is the unpaid work of marriage and family where our rewards are emotional. I believe, though, that when most people talk about work, they are referring to their employment.

As the saying goes, "Work is the curse of the leisure class".

[EMARX]

It doesn't matter what your job is. They all have built in stresses and strains which are up to the individual to cope with.
You can't look down on someone elses job, but we can forget stay at home parents either. It's hard work with no pay.
Even a writers life has to be grind at times.