Post No. 2,474 - Recovering from a corporate life - Episode 5: Feedback and Health

Posts in this series are now listed at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/p/recovering-from-corporate-life.html. 

PS - expect these to be edited fairly often. Writing these is part of the healing process, and will bring up more insights,etc.

Let me begin this episode by giving some numbers. 

I have gone from a situation in February where I was working a corporate version of four days a week (although, to be fair, my natural stubbornness and sense of ethics/fairness [to me and my family] meant I didn’t go too far above that) to working around 1½  to 2 actual days per week, AND those days were mostly in my chosen and loved technical area, rather than a wider application of my degree + administrative tasks. 

Also, unlike other times in my corporate working life when a cut back in hours threatened my family’s wellbeing by cutting back our income and possibly presaging the worst attack on our financial and related wellbeing: losing work entirely, I know that I will be able to access my super - and, in the meantime, I have some savings to fall back on. 

Years ago I read a recommendation to keep one year’s income in savings: that simply isn’t possible for most people, but, when my adoptive father passed, I inherited more than that, and it has helped. I would certainly now support trying to have at least six months savings in reserve - and I know that just simply isn’t possible for most people, including those in the corporate world, given the cost of living - especially rent. 

So my current situation has seen an easing up of stress and corporate expectations. 

I still have the low energy that I referred to in Episode 4, and, if I was able to, would prefer to be working around 3 days/week for my family's finances, but that isn’t possible, and isn’t a significant problem.

So having set the context, let’s look at what I - and others - are observing in this real life experiment. 

Firstly, my physical health continues to improve. I used to find I had to drink a fair amount of Aloe Vera juice to ensure my digestive system worked properly: I don’t now. 

Secondly, my mental health continues to improve. 

I used to have the very bad habit of picking at any minor injury, which slowed healing and often exacerbated the injury. That is around 95% gone, and I am going to reward myself by getting some tattoos - which also provided some motivation to help get over that particular problem ... which, even as I was doing that, always struck me as a little like the stereotypical trope of a wild animal caught in a trap and trying to gnaw off a limb so they could escape the trap.

I am also generally looking after my health - better and more regular exercise, meditation, and basic self care such as moisturising, but that still has a long way to go.

Thirdly, feedback from others. 

Someone has commented on my returning joy of life. 

And I think, on that note, I will end this episode and go experience some more of that returning joy of life as I do this morning’s chores 😁 - and maybe even some exercise.

I am writing this series in the hope that it will contribute to a better understanding - or at least better research into the effects of - the so-called developed world’s economic systems - which are based on the world-destroying amathia of perpetual growth, and patriarchal oligarchical capitalism expressed as often expressed corporatism and neoliberalism.

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below. 

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Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.