Thursday, July 19, 2007
What stirs the soul defines the life
What stirs the soul defines the life. Every once in a while, in the context of a conversation, I will ask people what moves them. What stirs the soul? Ignites the passions? Fires the engine inside? All too often, people give evasive, or unsure answers. For me, it's a simple question with a multitude of answers; art, literature, motorcycles, cars, exercise, philosophy, politics, spirituality, family, and on and on. I would have more trouble picking one than coming up with a response. That is not the case for everyone, apparently. I have come to realize that there are people in this place of plenty who are not passionate about anything in particular. Maybe they are not actively aware of their passion, or they are so apathetic as to have squelched any passions they may have once had. Whatever the cause, their spirit and their mind will suffer for it.
There are times when I am having a conversation or just quietly contemplating by myself and a particular thought or feeling will come to me and I will get goose bumps or shiver. I might be working a drawing and feel a rush of energy or riding my motorcycle and be overcome with the urge to smile. Likewise, there are times when I will feel physically disgusted when talking about politics or moral decay. Maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but I get genuine, visceral reactions when discussing the topics I find most compelling. Perhaps that's out of the ordinary, or maybe it is just that I am more aware of the impact because I am more interested in that sort of thing. It's hard to say.
One thing I am definitely not passionate about is work. As I type this, a software version of big brother is counting the seconds, recording exactly what I am working on, and for exactly how long I worked on it, literally down to the second. Using tools like this one is one of the worst forms of management one can imagine, but that is what it has come to at the office these days. We are being watched by an electronic overlord, and evaluated accordingly. Luckily, my schedule is usually so busy that it makes no difference. I generally write this type of post in short installments throughout the day, as I rarely have the kind of time it takes to sit straight through.
But there is of course a backlash against the electronic nanny. No one actually likes the idea of being watched. I see the business value in evaluating peoples' work loads and practices, but I am betting that the damage done to morale by the monitor's presence will cancel out any process analysis value. People are leaving the company in a steady trickle of personnel. Even I've been updating my resume and my CV, there's just no good reason not to in the current circumstance. It doesn't seem like so long ago that working here was fun, but that part of history is getting more distant by the day.
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