This is a long one.
First off: I am a long-time union supporter and advocate for employee rights, work-life balance and societal safety nets. I am heartened to see people understanding and using their rights as an employee (even if in the US they are few and far between), and the resurgence of the union movement.
This post is about my experience over the last 6 months, and what antiwork means to me.
I am in a privleged position: the country I live in has stronger employee rights than many. My position in society and my education has enabled me to earn a wage comfortable enough to live on as a mid-30s childless woman. My employer was good, my managers human and supportive. I was even able to access free counselling.
Despite this, the last 2 years have been tough. I'm a public servant: I worked hard supporting the COVID response. I attempted to keep good boundaries between work and life. The work didn't stop. Our pay got frozen. I felt out of control.
At the end of last year, I burned out. Due to union-won gains and the support of my manager, I was able to take time off as paid sick leave to recover. Then, I was able to take 6 weeks unpaid leave to give myself time and space to figure out what to do next (an unexpected perk I was able to afford using part of the house deposit I saved before I was priced out of the market).
Now, with all the horror stories you hear on r/antiwork, you might be thinking what is this babe up to? Is she showing off? That sounds like a too-good-to-be-true scenerio?
This brings me to what antiwork means to me. Coming up to my planned 6 weeks' retirement, I worried I might “waste” it. All I could manage in the evenings and weekends after paid work was sitting on the couch watching Netflix and eating chips. I thought I might become one of those case studies against Universal Basic Income.
It turns out the opposite was true. I am not anti-labour. I worked harder than I ever have during the time off. I woke up every day feeling motivated and inspired. I cleaned, I cooked, I supported friends, family and neighbours, I deepened my friendships and rebuilt my community ties, I planted food, I cleared invasive weeds, I read, I drastically improved my mental health, I cared for friends' children.
In my paid job I had felt unfocused, anxious, slow, unproductive. Eventually I realised I couldn't go back. I started my own business and feel inspired to “work” on it for long days without being paid (yet: we haven't dismantled capitalism, so sadly I do have to earn some rent money soon).
So, I hope that this post doesn't come off as bragging, or as naively idealistic. I am well-aware of my own privlege and well-aware of others' intense struggle. I wanted to share a good-news story about how life and work can look, and what antiwork means to me.
People should not have to toil for capitalism. I hope that one day soon we can be supported with the time, space and, let's face it, money to do all that unpaid labour that contributes meaningfully to society and personal growth. With the resurgence of the union movement, the antiwork movement, and the (slow) shift of the balance of power between employers and employees, let's continue to work (hah) together towards this future.
TL;DR: I had a nervous breakdown, quit my job, and then worked harder than ever at things that were unpaid but incredibly valuable to me and my community. We should all have this opportunity.
Edit: I should also add that the reason I could work so hard is that I also took a lot of time to rest! It's important and we should be “allowed” time for that too.