“We want to work,
But not too hard.
We need money,
But not so much.
We care,
But not that much.”
This was my mantra, penned some 14 years ago.
I was working part time taking on contractual jobs which required me to turn up at the workplace 2 or 3 days a week. I was also running a private practice, sharing office with friends, from where we would meet clients. Occasionally, we would offer specialized training programs or workshops. Later we took on the task of offering training, bringing in experts from other parts of the world, to provide specialized training and retreats. My life was a balance of working hard but living life fully, enjoying flexible time to spend with family and friends and also having hobbies.
The three statements expressed my philosophy towards work. But that last statement could not be publicly stated as I didn’t feel it was a congruent statement for counseling clients to read.
So the mantra became a closeted statement shared only among fellow practitioners, and eventually forgotten.
Today, at an age, when my peers are retiring, I am preparing to relaunch my private practice. I am integrating my life’s two key passions – meeting people and making art. I am moving my counseling practice to share space with my pottery studio under one roof.
These words re-surfaced as I was clearing my files. I found myself feeling not only a renewed ownership of these sentiments but being almost defiant to take a public stand with it.
I still worry about “what others will think”, if they experience the negative implication of “not caring”. But, necessity being the mother of invention, I found a positive reframe for it.
Now my mantra reads..
We want to work,
But not too hard.
We need money,
But not so much.
We care,
But just that much.
The British-influenced side of me offers a more polite version:
We care, hence we do the work we do.
We work, because it is fulfilling.
We, like you, have families, dreams and stories of our own.
