The number of men applying for teacher training has risen sharply because of the recession, says the body responsible for training teachers. There was an over 50% rise in the number of men applying to be primary school teachers; see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8550506.stm for the story.

I have to ask myself whether the recession is in fact the real reason for the rise. I suspect there may be a grain of truth in the matter as applications from men have been falling for years especially on the fears of accusations of paedophilia that we in the UK seems a little over obsessive about. The question is just how good teachers are these people going to make given that teaching may be a fallback position to be reversed when capitalism's optimism returns.

How many other professionals are doing work they do not like/care about? It is worse with vocational professions where there is a bit of an expectation of some sense of public service. I mean we expect bankers to be ruthless money grabbing individuals, but doctors, nurses, teachers and the like must be willing to go over and above the call of duty for us. I can honestly say that in most cases, you can sense when there is the lack of that commitment in those professions but then again, nobody does a good job doing something they don't care about.

And this is what makes the difference. If you are doing what you love, what you care about, it does not feel like work. When it does not feel like work, it is what defines you as a person, as a member of the society you live in. I once read that hunter-gatherers worked about 30% of the time. I, on the other hand, believe they worked 100% of the time - however some things did not look like hunter gatherer work but it was because that is what they were. You can see that sort of work ethic in some communities. The industrial revolution is what created the divide between work and play and the rest of life.

Because of that, many people believe that they can separate work and play and achieve greatness and satisfaction in their lives. Most of us know or soon will know this not to true and it does not matter how much you earn and because you don't like what you do, you yearn for more off time, holiday and leisure time to do other things. Doing things you don't care about though makes you tired and lazy and listless, and so many times people do not rise high enough to do those things you like continuously and so they find wasteful pastimes like drinking, gambling and other activities that provide minimal relief from the drudge they find themselves in. Work just becomes a drag.

If you personally do work you enjoy fully, I envy you. I was once there and I seek to return to that state. I think everyone should aim to use their talent and passion and everyone should be able to earn a living doing so.

May you find the balance.

[First published on my Talking2Myself blog on specified date]