I had a small exit at the beginning of the pandemic and made enough money to last the next 20 years. I decided to take some time off and explore my hobbies (making music).
That 6 month sabbatical turned into 1.5 years of dawdling about and doing nothing much. Honestly, it felt awful. My creative output was trash, I became physically lethargic, and most of my time was wasted watching stupid YouTube videos and arguing with people online (including this place).
My dad retired at 52. He's been officially out of work for the last 27 years. He's a very creative, healthy, and hands-on guy, but even that couldn't save him. He's turned into a shell of the man I used to know - asocial, irascible, prone to idle obsessions (cleaning and organizing things).
It doesn't have to be "work", but I firmly believe we need something to wake up for every day.
It's interesting as I've observed this phenomenon too - some people end up getting what they've dreamed of, the ability to do whatever they like, and the experience seems to bring them to a kind of deep unhappiness.
But, and I think this is important - it doesn't happen with everyone.
There are those who have the opposite experience. They're a joy to be around, and also typically excited/hyper-productive with whatever they're doing.
As I see it, we are all heading for the same future, whether we like it or not. We can't keep perfecting the automation of tasks and abilities and accelerating all of the technology to do so, without reaching a point that there simply is far less actually useful work for people than there are people.
I'd hope that as a whole we're able to figure that out, perhaps with the help of whatever AI will be at the time, such that most of us can end up on the other side of that change in the positive way I described.
I don't see why in and of itself, we couldn't. But I can see why some might take the view that we couldn't. However, in the face of adversity, I prefer to remain optimistic: we're a very resilient species, who've been through all kinds of crazy changes at the various extremes of existence. Surely we're able to collectively handle the comparatively lesser challenge of simply spending each day how we like?
And I wonder if optimism may have something to do with it. Of those I've met who seem genuinely happy, and free to do whatever they like - they're always optimistic about the future and life in general, usually contagiously so. Whereas, I've met people in every kind of financial or working situation who seem imbued with pessimism, and well... they're miserable.
Is there a way out of that negativity, or is it just what some of us are stuck with? Well, optimistically, I take the view that of course there is.
On the whole I think I agree - we do need something to wake up for every day, and I'm sure that we, given a bizarre kind of freedom that leaves us no choice in the matter (find it or get depressed being directionless) - will find out what it is.
And thanks for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it. I hope my (at times, a little crazy) thoughts about the topic find you well.
We definitely need something to “work” on, but most of us don’t have the luck/privilege to work on something they truly find challenging and motivating, what they would genuinely continue without any monetary compensation. With that said, I think most people are just not that motivated for anything, and they also would need something to spend their time on otherwise we would live in very chaotic times.
That 6 month sabbatical turned into 1.5 years of dawdling about and doing nothing much. Honestly, it felt awful. My creative output was trash, I became physically lethargic, and most of my time was wasted watching stupid YouTube videos and arguing with people online (including this place).
My dad retired at 52. He's been officially out of work for the last 27 years. He's a very creative, healthy, and hands-on guy, but even that couldn't save him. He's turned into a shell of the man I used to know - asocial, irascible, prone to idle obsessions (cleaning and organizing things).
It doesn't have to be "work", but I firmly believe we need something to wake up for every day.