I'm looking for a job and I've set myself a task to try and find a local one. I want to work within walking distance of where I live because since I left my job 5 months ago I've re-discovered my local community. It's like the slow food movement except it's about life in a 3 kilometre radius. It's a gentler, quieter, smaller existence but nonetheless exciting.
I've always been partial to a little bit of slowness. When I was a child growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, summer months meant daydreaming. I lived in a hot fibro house on a quarter acre block that had no trees. My father had cut down all vegetation that couldn't be eaten, so the only thing to do on a burning hot day was to take to my bed and daydream. Later, when I went to University and then to work, I always had to counteract my busy life by having a time of quiet. During this time there was no music, no noise, no socialising. The act of just being; observing, listening and smelling seemed to make sense of all the doing.
Years later I read Milan Kundera's book "Slowness" in which he laments the lack of slowness in life. "Gazing at God's windows" is a Czech proverb that describes the easy indolence of daydreaming. He says that a person gazing at God's windows is not bored, they are happy. Now, he says, a person with nothing to do is frustrated, bored and constantly searching for the activity he lacks.
I've been gazing at God's windows a lot lately and in between times I've taken to the streets to walk the dog, meet new people and discover new interests. Of course no one can live on daydreaming alone so it's time to get a job. I would really love to get a local job, to cut down commuting time and to enhance my community experience. The challenge begins.
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