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Alchemizing the Idea of ‘Work’
I got work to do… I gotta job, baby— Vanessa Williams
It’s one of many favorites from her. I remember that video vividly. Wanted to feel empowered and embody the same sense of independence. Feel important. Understood the importance of telling someone I got work to do. However, later in life, I’d find out “work” was mostly about being busy. Nothing involving impact, outcomes, or results.
Work.
The word sometimes taste sour in my mouth. I have a love-hate relationship with work because it’s not taught as a fluid concept — that’s the part I learned later in life.
While Vanessa Williams and her fabulous dancers (shout out to Elise Neal) gave a visual showcase of the empowered feminine, work became another drone-like activity to keep me stuck in the loop of the unattainable “American Dream.” As a Black woman, it felt as if this dream didn’t exist. And if I were to disrupt the construct, it definitely wasn’t happening through the static school-to-workforce pipeline.
Cause it doesn’t work.
Took me a while to get aligned.
My spirit and I in discord with how we wanted to actualize ourselves in this realm. So, I re-framed the idea and definition as it pertained to my destiny.
