Is Our Identity Defined By What We Do With Our Time?

"There is no such thing as freedom of choice unless there is freedom to refuse. " -David Hume

Time. Time. Time. They say that time is scarce. They say that time is running out. They say that time is money. Time that 5 days a week we give away for free. How generous of us! Sadly the human only self-sacrifices when he’s forced to do so.

It is no wonder we believe we are our job. After all, that’s where the almost entirety of our time goes to, right? Don’t believe me? What do you say when someone asks you what you do as a living? "I am a lawyer. " Key word over here – I am. You are what you do. And what do you do? (Riri where you at? Work, work, work, work, work, work)

We only think of ourselves through the lens of our professional identity because for fuck’s sake, what time have we got outside of work to develop a personality? The tiny portion of time we have completely-but-not-so-completely to ourselves gets yet again gently taken from us because hey, we have endless to-do lists to complete outside of work. End result: we keep on chasing time and the more we chase it, the more it slips away from the palm of our hands.

Time efficiency. Ah capitalism’ weapon of control. They want us to do more with less time. Yet giving us back that "extra" time never makes it to the "let’s rethink this fucking system" committee. All the extras go toward those who make the rules. Stop dreaming and keep on working, will you?

The prospect of retiring is very anxiety inducing for the average human. Why is that? Because he believes he is losing his identity! His sense of self has been tied to his work for 30+ years!It’s going to hurt like hell when you take off the band-aid, no matter how gentle you go at it! Who I am outside of a work setting? Can I even think of myself not in terms of productivity?

The system is as it is because we accept it for what it is. Funny how we hold the people in our lives to such impossible standards, but when it comes to the society in which we live in, our expectations are lower than a low blow. We won’t put up with people’s nonsense for another minute, yet we’ll put up with the system’s nonsense in which we’re trapped in for 60+ years. No comprendo.