Freethinking

Artificial Life

I’ve just been reading an article from the excellent Quartz site about why seemingly mundane worker types (as opposed to colourful hippie types) flock to Burning Man each summer. This quote required me to re-read it three times before I could move on. Hmmm….

For many people, in day to day life our freedoms are quite restricted, sometimes very restricted, and our ability for self-expression is limited. People spend the day in workplaces where quite often we have to hold our tongues, not say what we really think, keep going, do what we need to do,” says Joseph. “It can be very tiring and exhausting living a life day to day that feels quite inauthentic and that doesn’t have that capacity for freedom and self-expression.

The quote was particularly meaningful today because, in response to an email received by a fine co-worker, I responded in a way that most people wouldn’t have: with emotional rawness. I wasn’t wrong to do so, my facts were spot on and the reason for responding as I did is as logical as it was, well, raw. But I felt guilty, afterward, for telling it like it is. Which is preposterous. But that’s work life, I suppose. And we’d do well to get over it. Without having to escape into the desert.

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