Is it necessary to work?

I have often fantasized about life without any work- no deadlines, no one to report to, no reports to write, nothing to do, just lazing around meeting friends and having a 'good time'. Guess what? I've had my wish and I am beginning to find myself 'over-vacationed'!!

I graduated from Harvard in June and my work doesn't begin till later this month. So I decided to go on a vacation. I visited India, Singapore, several places in the Philippines, met with old friends, relatives, well wishers, did some sight seeing, drank plenty of beer, ate some great food and then, came back to the US. Almost since the last week of my vacation, I have been itching to get back to work. I want to do something productive and not just read or travel or write a blog. There is a certain emptiness to the day that I need to fill up each day. I decide to go for a drive, sometimes, I read, sometimes I write, sometimes I just walk. But all of these are also beginning to be a bore. I clearly want to more productive. I really want to work! Did I think I would ever say that? No way.

Work clearly gives a greater meaning to our lives, or at least my life. It gives me a professional anchor, a place for intellectual stimulation and growth and a place where I feel I am making a difference and contributing something not just to myself but also to the larger good. Which is why we are all so upset when we don't quite enjoy our work. Work gives us a sense of worth and worthless work is not worth doing! And I am not being facetious here.

This is indeed a serious discovery for me. We enjoy our vacation only when we come off some hard work. In fact, the harder the grind, the happier the vacation, which is why we look forward to weekends as much due to all the work done in the past week as also in anticipation for the week ahead. Vacation is an energizer when it comes as a break from serious enterprise and ceases to be enjoyable when it goes on for too long. I do consider myself fortunate to enjoy such a vacation though- otherwise I would never have realized the need to work, at least in my own case and how important it is to complete my personality and sense of being.