The importance of work.

I am back at work for the first full day since late July. Naturally, being in production and running a fairly large and busy account meant that I had to work a couple hours each day while I was out. There were conference calls to be taken, cuts to view and comment upon, music to listen to, decisions to be made, arguments to have. And of course there were i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed.

Work is a force that gives us meaning.
It helps pay for our families.
It helps indulge our passions.
It helps classify who we are.
There are friendships formed.
Laughs shared.
Travails to go through together.

There are projects to create.
Things to make.

That's work.

Desmond Morris, probably the world's most famous anthropologist, has written extensively on those characteristics that make man man. One of them is work. When we were just descended from trees we would hunt in packs. Different sapiens with different skills would take on different roles.

The swift would chase down the lion. The brave might rouse it from hiding. The strong might spear it. It was a group activity, with a shared goal and a shared result: sustenance, a sense of accomplishment.

This is what work can bring.

There's not good hunting everyday.

And some days pissant needle-dicks foul things up.

And some people are slackers and live off the group.

But life goes on.

If you work at it.