Name: Tom
Message: Do you have any music recommendations for someone who spends everyday sitting at their desk at work and dreaming of one day not sitting at a desk? I think I'm going to die here without every doing work I love. Okay bye.
Dear Tom,
I’m sorry that you don’t like your job. Is the work not meaningful? I have a job that requires me to be at my desk 85% of the time, but it’s actually pretty fulfilling. Can you maybe find a job you’ll enjoy a bit more? I know not doing what you love is a bummer. But you know what else is a bummer? Being broke.
I don’t want to tell you to sell out. But. It really is okay to sell out a little! Which would you rather: have a job that you love and fulfills you, but you go home at the end of the night, eat ramen for dinner, can’t take a real vacation because you’re poor, have to pay your phone bill late so your service gets turned off, and miss out on going to that fancy movie theater with the big chairs where you can get food and drinks delivered to your seat because you can’t afford it, OR go to work, do some paperwork that seems meaningless, make inane conversation with the middle aged woman in the cubicle next to you, but then show up at home with flowers for your lady, pay your bills on time, go out for some fondue for dinner, and then go shopping for records because you’re obsessed with owning every Hot Water Music album on vinyl and you still can’t seem to find that split they did with Leatherface but you can totally afford to pay top dollar to have it in your collection?
Selling out is kind of okay. Money isn’t bad. It’s unfortunately a necessary evil in the world we live in. It sucks. I would much rather have a job where I get to dress real nice and wear huge heels and black lipstick and answer phones for a hair salon, or volunteer at an animal shelter all day, or just stay home and try out new recipes. But that isn’t realistic, at least not for me. So, I go to work, fill out my reports, go to meetings, and do the best I can to find purpose in what I do. And then I go home and do what I want, and most importantly, I leave work at work.
And for real, I’ll say it again; you’re a (probably) white dude in America. The world is your oyster. Quit your current desk job and create one of those weird start-up tech companies where you have mini-fridges stocked with Kombucha and a break room to play video games in! -T
REWIND to this...
The Format - "Dog Problems": While I will leave here the title track from one of my favorite albums, I implore you to listen to the entire album, beginning to end. This album is perfect and it tells an amazing story about a guy in love, out of love, and basically just obsessed with love. This will get you through a solid hour of work. And then listen to it again and listen to the story. Hour 2. Listen again and dance in your seat. Hour 3. Etc. I never get sick of The Format. Speaking of selling out, Fun. Amiright? Just kidding! I actually like some tracks off the new album, though nothing compares to the old Nate. So check this out, and cheer up!