JUST as all lives matter, all lives and what constitutes these lives are essential. At least to the owner of that life.
The recent noise about non-essential and essential jobs highlights the degree of insecurity COVID-19 has dumped onto society. Nerves seem more fraught and people likely to get more agitated due to the uncertainty facing them.
For those who have lost their jobs, they have lost an essential aspect of their existence. And they’ve also lost a source of income to feed the family and carry on with the essential day-to-day activities.
Whether you’re a doctor or a cleaner, artist or telemarketer, every function is essential to the person doing it. It enables more than what is presented at face value to a judgemental society.
The ripples of discontent about the essentialness of a job have spread beyond our shores, inspiring Madhu Raghavendra, a “non-essential” poet, curator and social activist in India to pen Artist in response.
Madhu’s sentiments would apply to any vocation and role in life and society. The unseen, unglamorous jobs are key to the smooth functioning of society. Every role has its place, if not in the grand scheme of things, then certainly in the individual’s personal arena of existence.
So, if you understand your own worth, then an unnecessary, throwaway survey is not going to knock the stuffing out of you.
