Need some help/insight on something that has me a bit stumped.
I have posted a few times on here before, but for those that don't know me, I am a born and raised ex-scn kid. I have been working through a number of emotional/philosophical/life concerns over the last ten years post scientology. Most I have been able to ponder through and trace back to certain Scientology thought positions, but one thing that I can't seem to understand is my philosophical position on work. Specifically, being PAID for work.
I have been thinking about this for a while, so please bear with me...
From what I can establish, work or job satisfaction is low with a lot of scientology kids. A lot of us seem to eke out our living in pedestrian jobs such as in clothes stores and food outlets. I know one Scientology kid that has gone through over 30 different jobs and has still not found any satisfaction. As for me, I try to avoid work at all costs. From my understanding this comes down to three main issues. One is Scientology's lack of focus on education, which results in no HSC/Year 12/High School/ or University/College for Scientology raised kids; Two is a lack of focus on the individual talents of Scientology kids which would ordinarily lead to passionate development of hobbies and career paths; and three is the cult mindless brainwashing thing that hinders knowledge of self (thankfully this last one has a rebound effect of knowing oneself deeply, though with a lot of distress in between).
But knowing oneself is separate from knowing what to do with oneself. I have tried my share of jobs, hobbies, etc over the years trying to find an area that interests me, or even something I can bear doing for an extended period of time, but I keep falling short. Now, I am a very capable individual and have always been a valuable employee when it comes to work; very efficient, quick to learn and pick up skills, good at team work, yada yada yada insert all the necessary skills... So the actual work/job is not the problem. I have no problem doing work voluntarily, like when someone asks me to help them. I even offer my help freely and work hard to do a good job. But the minute that work becomes PAID work, then all tools get downed, and I lack the motivation and effort. I start to see the ridiculousness of selling things to people that don't need it. Or selling cheap shit at over-inflated prices. Or shuffling paper for the sake of shuffling paper. I do not last long emotional or philosophically after this and I quickly plan my exit.
The closest explanation I can get to the way I am feeling is from Fromm and his Marketing Personality. Or rather my inability to do what is needed in this day and age and place a value on my skills and abilities and sell them like I am a product. I could also rabbit on about the utter meaninglessness of the majority of jobs, the chasing of bits or paper that we all place too much meaning on. Or I could say I am just being moralistic and challenging the current capitalist and materialistic paradigm. Or maybe the realising of true freedom? I don't know... But I feel there is more to it.
I initially thought this was an individual thing, but I recently started a course (that will hopefully lead to self-employment), and by sheer coincidence, or divine fate (however you wish to see it), I ended up in the exact same course with another scientology kid with a strikingly similar upbringing (around the same age, same org, same time period). We don't actually remember each other, but we got chatting and the subject of work came up and without him knowing my position, he basically described EXACTLY how I think about work and PAID work in particular. I did not prompt him or anything and there was nothing vague about the similarity. It was pretty much word for word.
So, my question is: How does two separate scientology kids that have never spoken to each other end up with the EXACT same philosophical position on work and PAID work in particular? Surely, this is not sheer coincidence? There must be some sort of Scientology manipulation/dogma at work that has led us down the exact same thought process and exact same path..?
I have posted a few times on here before, but for those that don't know me, I am a born and raised ex-scn kid. I have been working through a number of emotional/philosophical/life concerns over the last ten years post scientology. Most I have been able to ponder through and trace back to certain Scientology thought positions, but one thing that I can't seem to understand is my philosophical position on work. Specifically, being PAID for work.
I have been thinking about this for a while, so please bear with me...
From what I can establish, work or job satisfaction is low with a lot of scientology kids. A lot of us seem to eke out our living in pedestrian jobs such as in clothes stores and food outlets. I know one Scientology kid that has gone through over 30 different jobs and has still not found any satisfaction. As for me, I try to avoid work at all costs. From my understanding this comes down to three main issues. One is Scientology's lack of focus on education, which results in no HSC/Year 12/High School/ or University/College for Scientology raised kids; Two is a lack of focus on the individual talents of Scientology kids which would ordinarily lead to passionate development of hobbies and career paths; and three is the cult mindless brainwashing thing that hinders knowledge of self (thankfully this last one has a rebound effect of knowing oneself deeply, though with a lot of distress in between).
But knowing oneself is separate from knowing what to do with oneself. I have tried my share of jobs, hobbies, etc over the years trying to find an area that interests me, or even something I can bear doing for an extended period of time, but I keep falling short. Now, I am a very capable individual and have always been a valuable employee when it comes to work; very efficient, quick to learn and pick up skills, good at team work, yada yada yada insert all the necessary skills... So the actual work/job is not the problem. I have no problem doing work voluntarily, like when someone asks me to help them. I even offer my help freely and work hard to do a good job. But the minute that work becomes PAID work, then all tools get downed, and I lack the motivation and effort. I start to see the ridiculousness of selling things to people that don't need it. Or selling cheap shit at over-inflated prices. Or shuffling paper for the sake of shuffling paper. I do not last long emotional or philosophically after this and I quickly plan my exit.
The closest explanation I can get to the way I am feeling is from Fromm and his Marketing Personality. Or rather my inability to do what is needed in this day and age and place a value on my skills and abilities and sell them like I am a product. I could also rabbit on about the utter meaninglessness of the majority of jobs, the chasing of bits or paper that we all place too much meaning on. Or I could say I am just being moralistic and challenging the current capitalist and materialistic paradigm. Or maybe the realising of true freedom? I don't know... But I feel there is more to it.
I initially thought this was an individual thing, but I recently started a course (that will hopefully lead to self-employment), and by sheer coincidence, or divine fate (however you wish to see it), I ended up in the exact same course with another scientology kid with a strikingly similar upbringing (around the same age, same org, same time period). We don't actually remember each other, but we got chatting and the subject of work came up and without him knowing my position, he basically described EXACTLY how I think about work and PAID work in particular. I did not prompt him or anything and there was nothing vague about the similarity. It was pretty much word for word.
So, my question is: How does two separate scientology kids that have never spoken to each other end up with the EXACT same philosophical position on work and PAID work in particular? Surely, this is not sheer coincidence? There must be some sort of Scientology manipulation/dogma at work that has led us down the exact same thought process and exact same path..?