Look, I Made a Hat

Where there never was a hat.


Art might not be easy, but what I’m doing for work right now isn’t easy either. I started on a piece that should be used as guidelines for the whole organization. A hell of a job, but if I pull it off, it will look nice on my CV.

I’ve been following actors and artists, I’ve been reading their tweets, interviews and what’s there.They all seem to be under the impression their job is the hardest in the world. They seem to be under the impression their job is unique in that. No-one knows anything about what others are doing.

I was in my teens when I found out there’s usually more to things, people and situations, that includes jobs, than meets the eye. We so easily forget that.
In my teens I got my first job, a side job to get some work experience and some money. It was then I learnt. It was then I saw how people thought I was only able to scan products, ask for money and greet. They seemed to think I was plastered to my seat whenever I was on duty. I was not; we had many other side tasks that required us to leave our checkout counter and use our brains.

An old colleague once said to me, over a fresh coffee from the machine: “You think IT is not creative? Let me tell you something; it’s one of the most creative jobs in the world.” He was right. Just like in art I spent a lot of time designing, working out small pieces of my task and then I spend a great deal on putting it all together. It involves the end product, like a painting. It involves babbling to people. It involves convincing people things need to be done so you can get the money and manpower. All that together should result in a working functionality, in working software at the convenience of us, the people. The same efforts it takes to make an artwork, it just looks different.

I think, the above described goes for a lot of jobs, maybe even for most. A doctor puts in the hours to work out the best method for analysis, for treatment, for the babble, for the end result being a healthy person. The architect and builder who built your house has put in the same effort so you have a roof over your head.

It’s life really, isn’t it? Without effort, nothing will go the way you want it to. You have to make things happen. You have to put in the effort. Putting it all together. Making a hat, where there was none.

I am putting it together right now. I don’t have quite the hat yet, but I have the first specs (of light?) on paper.