Respect the Work of Life

My year has gotten off to a wicked start. I mean that in a good way. Mostly. After two weeks of being ill, I'm finally recovered and am now busy on a rush book project. Operating under a ridiculously tight deadline, this book is challenging me in ways I would not have imagined. What really kills me, though, is knowing that, if I do my job well, readers will breeze through the final picture book, and assume the whole enterprise was easy as pie. Not!

Like the saying goes, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

I can't help but wonder how many other professions are more difficult than they appear. My guess is, most—if not all—of them.

Back in the late 70's, when I lived in Sweden, I managed a clothing boutique in Old Stockholm. It wasn't until I had to dress mannequins in a store window, clean up after messy customers (who'd made no purchases!), and had to grin through my teeth when rude shoppers addressed me as though I were an idiot, that I realized how tough work in the service industries really can be.

I've been employed as a library assistant, financial aid officer, temp secretary, documentary photographer, and teaching assistant, among other things, and I know from experience that every job offers its own challenges. So, the next time you think about snubbing or in any way belittling another person whose job you assume you can accomplish standing on one leg, think again. In life, if not in work, that person is, no doubt, facing challenges you cannot begin to master, or even imagine. As for me, I'd better get back to my manuscript. Lord knows, it's not going to write itself!

What's New: The Road to Paris is out in paperback; Oh, Brother!, my new book with Greenwillow, is now on bookshelves; During the entire month of February, I'll be the featured author at Readergirlz on MySpace. Check it out!

Nikki