I’ve started my very first office job. After having worked in my past as a media artist, aquarium educator, art gallery animateur, art gallery history rapper, camp counsellor, educational video host, actor, political candidate, tour guide, journalist, english teacher, art educator, improviser, and barista. Among others.
They’ve all been very exciting. And diverse. But rather than feeling disappointed at the mundanity of my new job, or becoming depressed because it’s sunny outside and I work in an office, instead of outdoors or at an aquarium, I find the experience rejuvenating. Though I expect the drudgery of office life to eventually exact an excruciating toll, right now every day seems like an adventure. As an actor I relish my role of ‘office worker’. And enjoy the sense of ‘discovery’ that coems with eveyr new day. There’s office politics to engage with, and an interest in relevant subject matter to be mustered, as well as breaks to take, and print outs to be collected!
To me it’s like travelling in a foreign country, something else I love to do. There are exotic sounds and smells, languages I don’t understand being spoken, and a culture I try respectfully to engage with, a little bit at a time. It keeps me slightly nervous, lest I relax my guard and reveal something of myself that doesn’t fit well with the locals way of thinking and being.
This exoticism keeps me eager to come to work. Though it’s only the third week, if I can continue to find interesting aspects of the way of life here, I could even find myself enjoying the culture and customs so much that I take up residence in this strange and beautiful land.
