Walk softly and drop the stick

There's an old paradigm that seeps through our subconscious and lingers in the shadows of our awareness (or sometimes out in the open). An outdated modality that perhaps is best seen as a stepping stone to the fulfilled life, but should not be the end goal.  

The belief that to be strong, to be successful, to be a commendable human being, you must work “Hard”.  

Hard work is held as a standard of ideal accomplishment and we judge ourselves and others by this standard.  The flip side of course, is the completely undesirable quality of “Laziness”.  I must admit, I’m confounded by this judgement at times, succumb to it myself at other times, but always circle back to a deep questioning of what this even means and implies.  

Of course “hard work pays off” is a key tenant in the protestant work ethic and was (is?) tied into religious infrastructure as well.  One is considered more worthy in the eyes of God if one works hard and remains humble.   It was considered a demonstration of one's faith and would result in an individual's salvation.  I find this interesting within the context of religion (and the establishment of the church) as of course, followers who were told that doing the hard work would get them into heaven, means the church would have a never ending supply of “hard workers”.    So would the state if the same applies to the common man (regardless of religion). 

Somewhere along the line this ideology really worked its way into our bloodstream. It became part and parcel of the “American Dream”  and the idea of “upward mobility”.  But this concept also led to the rise of capitalism, and as Max Weber projected, this inherent pursuit of wealth (through hard work) became intertwined with religious ideas of diligence and productivity, further reinforcing the idea that hard work and diligence have a moral benefit and inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen one's character.  Hmmm.  So you are “better” if you work hard.  What a convenient pedagogy for a burgeoning nation  (I am not a historian nor a scientist, so these are just my cursory observations.) 

Here’s where the ends start to fray for me.   

Are we able to remove ourselves from the deeply ingrained insistence of this value in order to see what other truths or options might be lurking in an alternative viewpoint?  

How aware are we of where this value originates from and why or who created it (to what end)?

Does that even matter? 

I cant help sense in some way that the protestant work ethic originated in order to subjugate, control and keep the masses busy.  I cant help but wonder if this led eventually to the stratification of society as it now stands.  I cant help but wonder a lot of things. 

Like:

What is it to work soft, not hard?  

What if we completely let go of the notion that the opposite of “hard work” is laziness?  

What are we talking about in reference to laziness anyway?  

In my peers and personal experience, I find that individuals relate to this idea of hard work through a transference of family values. In other words, it's passed down/on.  My father/mother worked hard (this always is seen as a commendable quality) therefore I learned the value of productivity and hard work.  How hard you work becomes a commodity to be bragged about:  highly successful people talking about how they work 80 hour work weeks, or never take weekends off, etc.  

Perhaps some mindfulness around what we are applauding and for whom might be in order.  Perhaps working your ass off is not always a road to success (I can think of countless examples of people I know for whom “hard work” did not necessarily create wealth, success or opportunity for them.)  

So where does this all leave us?  

Many systems and institutions and services would fall to pieces if people stopped working so hard….. Or would they?  

I’m still exploring “work softly”  and re-imagining a world where we re-construct the very paradigm our capitalist networks are founded on.  

What is possible when we stop judging each other by how hard we work- and shift the narrative to something else entirely?

What might that even be?

I remain curious 

J