When I first saw this writing prompt, so many different jobs flitted through my head. And I put off writing anything because nothing immediately came to mind for me. It still doesn’t. But what does come to mind is…not what I expected. At all.
The jobs that flitted through my mind were air hostess (childhood ambition), doctor (though I don’t like certain body fluids), vet (ditto doctor except in animals), barrister (teenage ambition), actor, and back to my favourite – panda cuddler. Though on the basis I want to do that one every day, I discounted it for this piece. I also thought about dog groomer, that is something I wouldn’t mind trying for a day. As long as the dog isn’t trying to bite my hand off or anything, of course. We have a dog groomers near us, and the cacophony of noise does put me off, because I am sensitive to noise and if I’m exposed to it over too long a period I can get vertigo (long story) so on the basis of self-preservation, that one is out too. I think I’d like to be a zoo keeper for the day simply because I love animals, all animals really. I’m not the hugest fan of insects admittedly, but I would never hurt one. Ditto reptiles, I want to see them safe but I don’t want to see them if you see what I mean. I guess what I’m saying here is that I am very picky.
I wouldn’t want to be Prime Minister or President or any kind of politician for the day, frankly. I spent a lot of time in the political world for work, and frankly it isn’t pretty. Politicians (in Westminster, anyway) tend to be running around with their hair on fire all day, followed by researchers and assistants, constantly telling them where they need to be and what they should be doing. On top of that, they’re constantly keeping an eye on the screens throughout the meeting rooms in Westminster, checking what’s happening with the business in the House of Commons and waiting for the bell to call them to the House, even if that is mid-meeting or even mid-dinner event. I’ve even been in a meeting in an MPs nearby house only for the phone to go then a frantic dash to the House in the back of a car for a vote which was unexpectedly on the wire. No, it’s exhausting and if it’s only for a day there isn’t much that can be done that’s of any significance. In any case, ‘power’ doesn’t appeal to me. It’s an illusion usually anyway, because whilst it the person in the position may think they have some, it can very quickly and brutally be removed from you. For the same reason I wouldn’t want to be a monarch for the day. They are ridiculously busy as well with their time not being their own, and like politicians they always have to be ‘on’, and that just isn’t me. Admittedly, I would like to see behind the scenes at the palaces and wear some of the jewellery but that would take more than a day, so that’s out too.
Then the thought hit me – if we only do the job for the day, why would be looking to include something we love? Who wants to do something they love only for the day? To experience it then have it whipped away from them? Maybe the answer is to do something you hate, but that’s the only day you ever have to do it in your life. To know truly whether it would be something you would hate to do. I mean, I wouldn’t necessarily want to be a waste collector on the face of it but I bet the camaraderie amongst colleagues could be great. Which could make it a much better job to do than one where there is little to none. I hate doing housework and ironing, yet at the moment I do it for other people in part to bring in some cash but also to get out of my own head at times. So, a job I don’t particularly like on the face of it can be completely joyous at times. I work with some lovely people with whom I have a huge amount of fun, and I meet some wonderful people too. I get to have cuddles with lots of different dogs (much to my own dog’s disgust), and I get to chat to some truly interesting people that I wouldn’t otherwise have met. Okay, you look at some places and just think ‘wow, how can anyone live like this’, but then you accept it’s their choice and kind of move on. And, yes, you go to some places where you are treated like staff as though it’s back to the olden days of service but again, you’re only there for a few hours at the most. Recognising that it’s the other person’s insecurities treating you that way because you know you’re not. It’s a them problem, not a you problem. What I am saying here is that even with a job that, on paper, you might hate to do for a day could be utterly different to what you thought it was. And you might even enjoy it more than a job you would love to do for a day.
So, on that basis, what job would I hate to do but I only have to do for a day? I think being a funeral director would be pretty tough, but then you are helping people to honour a loved one so there is some beautiful service in that. And service is what it should be about. A washer upper in a kitchen (I have done this job), it’s hot and thankless yet you are an integral cog in a kitchen wheel. I know from experience that if the dishes aren’t being washed, everything in the kitchen will grind to a halt eventually. So, again, you are performing a service not only for your fellow colleagues but also for all those people visiting the restaurant or cafe, some of whom might have looked forward to that experience for whatever reason for a long time. They won’t think that they have you to thank in part for their experience, but they do. Because you have performed a really important service in the whole. It’s the same with being the waiter or waitress in a cafe or restaurant, it can be bone-breaking work and often you are spoken to disparagingly by at least one customer a day. But without that person, the whole experience simply doesn’t happen. If there is no one to take the food to the table, there is no experience. And if no one is there to collect the plates from the table and clean it, there is no experience. So, while sometimes the people you are serving can be less than ideal, there are also those who are utterly lovely. And you are a very important part of, perhaps, someone’s birthday, someone’s celebrations, someone’s joy of an occasion. That is an honour, and being of service to people is something that we are all here to do. To be a part of service to each other. Plus, you hopefully have some great colleagues too.
This has taken a turn I didn’t expect, but it occurs to me that in every job we do, we are providing a service. And service is what it’s all about, really. The oft-quoted Bible passage of ‘Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them’ in Mark 11:24 and in Matthew 21-22 ‘And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive’ which are often used by Law of Attraction proponents as evidence in the Bible that the Law is true, miss the point that both are also backed up by the requirement of acting in service. It isn’t the case that ‘ask, believe, receive’ is as simple as that, it is also the case that this has to be done in a context of acting in service to your fellow community. That being connected into your community, however you define that, and acting in service of it is how you are rewarded with ‘ask, believe, receive’. I am reading a book at the moment, Soul Over Matter, which also echoes this point about service. That service to one’s community is a means of overcoming bad karma (it talks a lot about generational bad karma which I am not sure I believe in so much, I believe that karma is dealt with in this lifetime), and is certainly a way of bringing good karma to you. And that if you have good karma, you have abundance and prosperity in life in any way that is meaningful for you.
So for me, I would not be adverse to spending a day doing a job I really disliked the thought of on paper, but doing so in an attitude of service. Knowing that I was performing a service for my community and seeing the job through that lens rather than one of distaste. And if nothing else, writing this has led me to think differently about the job I am about to go off and do for the day. I am pretty sure that seeing it through that lens will give me an immense sense of peace and happiness, of pure positivity.
Louisa Simpson 