This week I read in my newspaper De Volkskrant an interview with Swiss/British writer Alain de Botton in which I recognized a lot of myself and my way of thinking. This interview was published as promotion for his book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Ode aan de arbeid) in which he deals with the question why people want to be happy in the work that they do.
Especially the fact that he does not envie people for their profession as such, but that he envies them for the capacity to be happy and content with their work, I recognize. I would have loved to have this passion; it is difficult to learn - either you have or you have not. That people can be happy to get to work at 8 and leave at 5 and that is OK for them; without any specific goals or events. That is unbelievable for me; luckily we are not all the same.
De Botton says that he poses himself over and over the question how to be meaningful as a writer and how to make a difference. By writing about his own feelings he tries to hit the feelings of his readers, which leads in the end to a sort of long-distance friendship writer-reader. By writing about his feelings he wants to create order in a chaotic mind. He can only do so by writing honestly about his feelings and being vulnerable. On a smaller scale I like to do the same; in fact I would like people to read my blog (that reminds me: I have to do some marketing!), but the effect of creating order is present just by writing it down and being honest to yourself. What you read is what you get !
I was amused by the statement that he associates intellectuals with neuroses and that intellectuals are anxious people; may be I am living proof. Not everyone is practical and rational. But thinking also leads to some comfort - De Botton says that it actually helps to read works of pessimistic philosophers like Schopenhauer if you are feeling down. In any case it does not help to read the overenthousiastic and optimistic American selfhelp literature; those works seem rather naive and far-fetched if you are not in your most hopeful mood.
A good idea of him was to start a School of Life, which deals with life lessons concerning work, love, family etcetera, with the ultimate goal of not only discussing life but also changing life. That is what I call a good idea; I would have loved to join and to learn. Give us more of these thoughts !
Source (only in Dutch):
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