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{
  "title": "Work Is Not The Thing",
  "lead": "Work is important. It occupies a lot of our time and consumes a lot of our energy. It is easy for it to crowd out everything else. Last year, a coworker of mine passed away and it has continued to be a reminder of how important it is to keep things in perspective.",
  "isPublished": true,
  "publishedAt": "2024-08-09",
  "openGraphImage": "posts/work-is-not-the-thing/og-image.png",
}
```

A coworker of mine passed away last year. Their absence is something I've thought about a lot. It has really been a constant reminder of just how transient so much of my professional life is and will be.

I don't mean to say my work isn't important or that the impact I can make through my work isn't meaningful. Work is a huge part of my life. It will add up to being more 50% of how I spent all my time here.

I am lucky to be able to say I enjoy my work and the people I work with a lot. I care that I do my work well and to the best of my abilities. However, that means sometimes work can feel like "the thing".

> "I can't mess this up."

> "I'll have to miss that."

> "I got to finish this."

> "I don't have time for lunch."

And maybe there are moments, hours, days even when it is, but really, it's not. That meeting isn't going to make or break my career. That presentation isn't going to hit different in 8 hours. No one is going to care you took a morning with your family.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is easy to forget day to day that work isn't the thing. Work is the thing that gets us to the thing.
