I have on average spent 10 hours a day slogging away at work for the past 10 years. Not that I am complaining about it. I really enjoy doing this, barring a few dull days when I start questioning the purpose of it all. The contemplative mood lasts a few weeks usually, during which I pick my brains about where my life is headed and what I should be doing to steer it. I never come up with answers that are convincing enough to jolt me out of the rhythm.
An interview I heard on NPR marketplace got me thinking again. There was a simple question describe your job in 5 words. A simple but powerful thought. There were callers who described their jobs some very eloquently and some dripping with cynicism. As I started thinking about how I would describe my job, a few things occurred to me. It is really difficult to describe your job precisely and concisely if you are not convinced about how your job impacts the larger world. After dwelling over this for a while, I came up with the five words that describe my job. "Design to simplify network management."
This probably makes no sense unless you are acquainted with the networking industry.
I let it go until I heard someone else with a similar job describe her work like this "I keep facebook alive". Well certainly a perspective, considering the backend networking is what keeps facebook alive.
So, I decided to stop torturing myself trying to figure out the real impact and purpose of things in life. Its all about perception. So if I think I am the queen of the universe and no one contests it, I guess that would be a version of the truth :)
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