So many choices

"If a deer shits in the forest, no one looks at the pile of droppings and thinks bad deer. But if you come across a pile of beer bottles in the forest, you think asshole."
-Bill McKibben

Between reading that quote during jury duty this week (and then having an hour or so with nothing to do but reflect on it), and the goings-on at work, I've been doing some thinking about choices. Life, as human beings, involves a lot of choices. We can't just sit back and do whatever we want with no accountability, precisely because we have the burden of being able to make decisions. And it really can be a burden sometimes. Figuring out what to have for dinner, let alone what to do with the rest of your life can be daunting, to say the least.

What kinds of lives do we want to live? I was told this week (lectured at, really) that I don't put in enough hours at work. I generally get to work around 9:00 - 9:15, and leave at 5:30. I eat a fairly quick lunch at my desk so that I can help people out if they need it. And now I'm being told that I should be working at least 10-12 hours per day. Well, again, this comes down to choices. I really don't want to put in extra hours, especially at a job that is so unfulfilling. And even if it was fulfilling, we all need to make choices about what comes first in our lives. Is work more important than time with your family? Are money and status really the answer to all life's problems? What makes us happy? I don't have the answers, but I know enough to know that if I were actually sticking around for more than 27 more work days (yes, I'm counting down) I'd be fighting this. In my next job, I hope that I do want to work 12 hours a day. I hope that after 9 hours or so, I'm tearing myself away, so that I can go work out, hang out with my dog and my boyfriend, relax, spend some time outdoors, cook, knit, blog, whatever. I never want to be told that 40 hours of dedicated work is not good enough. Go shove it.

Blowing my savings on grad school is my choice. Quitting my job early so that I can go on a hiking and biking adventure is my choice. Spending a year in Scotland is my choice. Dedicating my career to the environment is my choice.

And if everyone chose to bike to work instead of drive, or swapped their air conditioner for a fan, or bought their produce from farmers markets instead of from another country...we might be able to use our ability to choose, to make things quite a bit better.