Work Less Live Happier

Working less equals a happier life. Americans have been working long hours to contribute to their materialistic habits, but are they really happy? I think that they are severally depressed people that like being surrounded by nice things. A person’s life long goal should not be to be successful, but to find inner peace.


As stated by Juliet Schor in Sustainable Work Schedules for All, “It becomes possible to produce a given level of goods and services in a shorter period of time, thereby giving workers more free time away from the job, or to produce more goods and services by keeping hours constant.” Making work hours shorter will improve a workers quality of life by: making a sustainable ecosystem, giving workers more free time for family and hobbies, and by making workers more productive while on the job.


Now a days, nearly all employees are working themselves to death trying to move at the fast pace that is expected. People are also trying to work after hours to get a few extra dollars to fulfill their materialistic need. Juliet Schor affirms, “Long hours of work are stressful; undermine family functioning and social connections, and cause physical and mental illness.” The only thing that working long hours does is keep parents away from their children and make people exhausted, depressed and fat. It’s no wonder why so many people are relying on pills to fix their problems when all they need is a lifestyle change. Materialistic objects can only provide temporary happiness. Family, friends, and achieved goals provide long term fulfillment.


The fast pace that individuals are working at doesn’t only affect the humans race, but it also affects our ecosystem. High volume production causes a larger ecological footprint that will only devastate us in the near future. If we all would just slow down and smell the roses we will be able to fix ourselves, and our surroundings. Working less will also allow people to get more involved in their communities, creating a better sense of being.


“If past recessions are a guide, many workers-particularly those who get a three day weekend- will adjust to lower incomes and decide not to resume a five day schedule,” as stated in the article Sustainable Work Schedule for All. It has been scientifically proven that when people have the opportunity to work four days a week then they are more likely to adjust to the lower income to keep that lifestyle. Would society realize it unless they had the opportunity to work a four-day schedule? I don’t think they would. It is the norm to work five days out of the week. Children grow up going to school five days a week, and then grow into adulthood, and work five days a week. So, in a way I think that it is almost programmed into us to only have two days of relaxation. But is it right? I don’t think so. Do you?


Citations
• Juliet, Schor. Sustainable Work Schedule for All. First Edition. Washington, DC: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. 91-95. Print.

An Attempt to Fly a Kite

Today it seemed a bit windy so, Isaiah, janey, mia, and I went out side to attempt to fly the Batman kite I got for Isaiah. The kite would get about six feet high and then the wind would stop and it would fall to the ground. This went on for about 5-10 minutes until Isaiah started to wine because he was sweating from the heat. The dogs had already beat us to the porch ready to go inside. It almost seems impossible to enjoy the outdoors with it feeling like a sauna all the time. I guess our next outting will have to be in the water. No doubt about it.

Last week I didn't have time, but Isaiah, Stan, and I went to Centenial Park. We walked around as long as we could until the heat had the best of us and made us run to the car. We tried to go on the swing set, but the sun made the seats so hot that I wasn't going to put my baby on the seat. I saw a beautiful tree with orange blooms on it. It was defenitly eye catching, since it was the tree with the most color around.
The one thing that I think makes this park so beautiful is that it is next to the water with a beautiful view. I have always loved the water. Hopefully the Oil spill won't ruin this for the future generations.

Gateway is Beautiful, but the Dog Park Sucks

This mourning Stan woke me up to tell me that our dog that had run away a week and a half ago came home. It all started when my boyfriend's mom, who is currently living with us, let my dogs out and some how scared Janey, and so she ran off and never came back. I was at school, so I didn't know anything until hours after the fact. But in all, she's home and we're all happy.

So after I gave Janey some love, a much needed bath, and removed most of the stigtites from her fur; we went to Gateway to go to the dog park. When we got there it was closed. I was mad, but decided to make the most of it, by enjoying the rest of the park.

First we went to the swings, Isaiah loved it. Then we went down the slide where i got my butt wet, so we didnt.'t do that again. After Isaiah got bored of the playground I saw a lake in the near distance so we decided to check it out. When we finally got down to the lake I saw to two huge tan birds with red heads. They were just chillin and munchin on something in the grass. I'm sure they saw us because they seemed a little uneasy that we were there, but yet they didn't mind the street that was behind them.

We didn't stay long, I had one dog trying to run in the water to catch bugs and another trying to run back to the car to go home. So I took my few pictures to capture the beauty while trying to round up the bunch. The park is well maintained and beautiful, but there is a loud school and street soo close that you can hardly enjoy the beauty. Periodically there is a "man-made" sound distrubing the ambiance. Also, it is soo hot and humid right now that it hard to enjoy the outside even in the early mourning.

Fun at the Beach

This weekend Stan, Isaiah, and I took a trip to Lover's Key. While entering the park there were many signs informing the guests that this national park was voted the best beach in the United States going on two years now. There were bulliten boards with information about the plants and animals you will be able to see in the park. The weather was very hot, probably about 97, and the water was beautiful and warm but cold enough to cool us off from the unforgiving sun. We didn't stay too long but i had time to take pictures. When we first pulled in to the parking lot there was a red bird lookin at its self through a mirror of a truck. It was very fascinated with the mirror because it repeditativley kept trying to fly into the mirror to get to itself, lol.

While at the beach we took a walk, played in the sand, swam, and had a picnic. We saw fish, a few species of birds, and found a living sand dollar while in the water. We got to get right next to the Heron while taking a walk, it didn't seem threatened by the people as long as you didn't get too close. In the near distance we were able to see a few nest which I guess were Osprey nests. There were also Mangorves, Panic Grass, Palm Trees, and Sea Oxeye. It didn't take long before Isaiah was all played out and ready for another nap.