Category: Thoughts

Today I want to talk about work. We all do it. But what’s healthy? That definition varies a lot from culture to culture.

I think the relationship between most people and their job is parasitic in nature. As we don’t think enough about the organism as a whole. An organization rather. We dedicate so much of our lives to a system that will exist without us.

Of course, it’s important that you love what you do. That helps the relationship take a more symbiotic state. But even so, it’s easy to be consumed by your work. You only have one life, so it’s important that you diversify. Putting all of your time into work leaves no time for anything else. Most of us act like we have no choice in the matter. But that’s untrue. We just seem to place this external label, like it’s somehow out of our control. It’s your own responsibility to maintain this delicate balance. All things in excess can be bad. By no means am I saying not to work hard either. You’ll have to to achieve anything great. The key is temperance. Moderation.

This toxic mentality is reflected in our workplace culture throughout the country. We’re all just accepting the 60+ hour work weeks. Because that’s just “how it is.” But that doesn’t have to be the case. Look at countries across the world. Not everyone adopts the same workplace model. Some of our strongest companies understand that flexibility is key. It’s the duty of management to make the lives of the employees better. To care about them. I’m glad to see that the archaic management styles of the 70’s and 80’s are finally losing relevancy. I can only hope that millennials learn from the mistakes of our past.

Happy employees do the best work. It’s quite simple and that has nothing to do with hours worked. When employees are allowed to live the lives they choose for themselves, their happiness takes shape in everything that they do. So often we sell ourselves on this dream. Constant chasing. To have the next best thing, to have more than we do now. But rarely do we ever stop to appreciate what we have today. This gives us time to truly enjoy our experiences as opposed to feeling like a cog in a soulless machine.

If there’s anything to take away from this rambling, it’s better to fail at being yourself than it is to succeed at a life that’s not your own. Live for yourselves.

Thanks,

Landon

It’s been a while since my last update. I’ve spent the past few months sorting out a plan to move forward. Videos have slowed to a halt, but I have been streaming with the others on Twitch every Sunday for the past few months. I’ve started work on my first LP album, The Happiness Constant. I expect to release it later this year. I’ll get back to posting videos soon enough. The vision I have for A World Without Gods is a content network and online community. I want to share ideas and inspire others, so I’m building a place where everyone can do what inspires them, focus on creating, and be their best selves. The team has come together nicely. It’s just a matter of time now.

The harder part for me is building some income outside of my work at the university. I’ve launched a website for personalized guitar lessons called Summit Guitar. I have some other ideas that I’m tossing around as well. I’m also building my own website for music related work. Mixing, Songwriting, Producing, that sort of stuff. I just need to get my name out there more and start finding jobs.

A pretty exciting landmark. I’ve formed an LLC, created a logo, and have put together a plan for all of these projects.

I’m going to try to do better with keeping up on blog updates. There should be some new content here in the near future, so keep an eye out!