Asimov Was Right

Arkem: I’m trying to spray you.
Me: Am I being bad?
Arkem: You’re working again.
Me: Oh. I am. Sorry.
Arkem: It’s okay. Recidivist tendencies are expected in your case. But not while you’re on parole.
Me: I’m on parole?
Arkem: It’s night time.
Me: But that’s when my recidivist tendencies are at their worst.
Arkem: That’s why you’ve been assigned a parole officer. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘work release’.

So I was reading this article that someone pointed me at: Ten Reasons Not to Use Your iPhone or iPad For Work While Vacationing. Can’t imagine why they thought this would be relevant to my interests…

At the end of the article they summarise their reasons in a list. Some of the items are certainly valid. Like number 8: Wi-Fi is often slow and unreliable. And maybe number 4: Work-life balance is becoming a blur. Although, really, that happened long ago, so I don’t see how taking my tech on vacation is going to make it worse.

Any possible ground the article may have gained however was lost with the final item on the list which is clearly meant to be their last word in persuasion. Number 10 reads: The old adages are true. When you’re lying on your deathbed, will you wish you had spent more time working?

My mind went straight to Asimov: If my doctor told me I only had six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood, I’d type a little faster. 

Someone once asked me, “If you won the lottery tomorrow, would you still go in to work the next day?” It was phrased as if the answer was inevitable. And for me, it was. But not the way they thought. Because of course I would go in to work. I love what I do. My work/life balance is often a bit of a mess because my work is one of my favourite things.

I’m never going to retire. I’m never really on vacation. A day does not go past that I don’t think about writing, that I don’t write something down. Being a writer isn’t something I do, it’s something I am. It’s very hard to go on vacation from yourself. And I think trying would be stressful. I experience the world through story, trying to change that would probably require rewriting my brain.