Laura

Divided Lines ❌

Daily writing prompt
What would you change about modern society?
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How about stop leaving your crap everywhere?

There’s a lot, a lot that could be said about this topic, some of which could get very ugly quickly depending on opposing views, a road which I won’t venture forth or travel down because people sometimes aren’t able to have respectful discussions like adults without thinking their view of everything is the right one.

Divided we fall…and fail, too


So I could say, the price of healthcare, absolutely, especially in the United States. I used to run insurances as part of my old job at the psychiatric hospital when there wasn’t someone else to do it and let’s just say if you ain’t got it, or it’s not the “good” insurance, well…good luck!


$300 out-of-pocket if you want to see a psychiatrist. From experience.

Let’s forget a hospital stay or an emergency room visit. Also the field of work I’m currently in – addiction medicine/behavioral health…haha, good luck with your vice if you’re not paying upfront.


Suffer, essentially.

All about taking money, and making money

Anyways, I digress. Although that is a huge problem, major.

The one I really want to talk about is “work culture.”

Mandatory meetings! So not only do you have to stay past your shift (or come earlier) to attend while you’re already overworked and tired, but you get the joy of having someone tell you how to do your job when they haven’t a clue!

Bust your ass for your job only to receive thankless returns, be told to come into work while you’re sick, preach about work/life balance and in reality have there be anything but, also…work yourself to death.

Work around the clock, don’t stop!

Work, work, work.

Never again, will I be a workaholic. I still slip up from time to time and over-promise.

No one ever said on their death bed, “I wish I had worked more.”

You get people looking down at you if you want to take a damn day off, much less a week.

What do you mean, you have a life outside of your job?! Preposterous!

Oh, you want to take a vacation? You must be rich.

No, I know the value of life and experiences.

And it ain’t all at work.

Don’t get me wrong, we can have some amazing life transformations and make some wonderful connections at work.

You gotta admit…this image is pretty cool! The message, however? Blah

But this ideal that work should be our only life; the most important, the thing that we put above all – has to stop.

I get it, work is an escape for some people.

At one point, it was for me too.

But just like utilizing any other bad coping mechanism, that one isn’t healthy either.

Sure, we all need to work, unless we are lucky enough to have the gods smile upon us and bless us with infinite money from other sources.

Financial freedom!

Haha, in Dreamland. (Neverland?!)

However, our job should never be our sole focus.

I don’t wear my job as my identity. It’s part of me, sure. But I’m so much more than that.

For which, I am very thankful.

Of course, Death never stops working…you can delay it, but it is inevitable, at some point, anyways!

Let’s stop allowing work to rule our lives, our every move, our every thought and decision. Money is important, yes. It’s wonderful to have nice things, true.

But there’s so much more.

Living and breathing for work? No.

Let’s change the narrative, please.

With that being said, I think I’ve gone wayyy too far down the rabbit hole, and now I’m exiting modern society! Thank you.

92 comments

  6. Speaking from your power. I love it! These images also say so much, and you’re right, healthcare is such a manipulated and debated topic, meanwhile there’s always a way to shift costs around every time some progress is made for normal folk. My son just reached the age where he isn’t on his dad’s insurance and it’s harder to find preventative care for his severe allergies. It will probably be a lot more out of pocket to keep him healthy, so he is able to work, to be able to pay for insurance. And so it goes.

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    • I’m so sorry about that, it really sucks! It really is all over the place but I can’t ever see it in anyway now except in order for them to profit. And don’t get me wrong, yes there should be some profit, but some of the things are absolutely ridiculous.
      And yes, on it goes, like a cycle, over and over.

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  9. I have to agree with the meetings. I don’t get many mandatory meetings, but I have people I work with that schedule them during the approximate lunch hour (meetings should be banned from 11.30am until 1pm, just saying) or they think their topic is important enough that it requires a meeting at 4pm on a Friday (nearly every time, it could have waited). Or people who insist on meetings when a quick email would do the job.

    I used to be a workaholic myself, now I generally refuse to put in more than 40 hours in each week (my salaried base hours) unless there is some benefit to me (like digging out of a pile of work that won’t get better until I start digging). Too many times have I been the victim of under-appreciation when I go the extra mile (not even an thank you for my efforts). Some people even act as if I should be grateful that they want me to work 50-70 hours a week. LOL.

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    • Oh, yeah. Totally feel this. First of all, when you send 1000 emails (my job does this) why can’t it just be one other email? lol

      And yes, be grateful we are asking you to work more! No, thank you. I have a life to live lol 😆

      The under-appreciation is the thing that drives me I think. It makes me really like, ok? Why did I bother to agree to work that extra day then? What the hell did I expect by going that extra mile? More crap! lol 😂

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      • “Michael has this covered this weekend, folks. I’m going to head up to the cabin. If you need anything, I may be offline most of the time, but I’ll try to get to town for wifi once or twice over the weekend.”

        “Gee, thanks.”

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  12. Great post Laura, corporations are just out for the money and rarely give a shit about the people. Only souls like you that actually care count in my opinion. And with that said, the pictures are fantastic as always but the one that caught my attention was death working. Have a great day and grab another cup. ☕😁😁

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    • So true! Coffee time it is! Stating on my first shortly here. And you’re right, the corporations don’t give a shit about us, and I don’t expect them to, but it would be nice to not have to work like a dog sometimes, (and not a good dog, either!) lol 😆 Thank you for your comment, I like the “death working” one as well 😊

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  13. Dark humor is definitely one of your superpowers, Laura ❤ … also in your bag of tricks a razor that can cut through demented delusions that all of us have fallen victim too. I have climbed from the depths of the rabbit hole a few times and you are 100% !!! It’s a trap and you are worth more than money and gold! Loved the images ~ Brutally awesome !!! 🙂

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    • Thank you lovely ❤️ you are far too kind, it’s ok to be delusional I guess sometimes as long as we have a touch of reality still within our grasp lol 😆 hope you’re having a great day! 😊

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  14. Totally relatable. It’s kinda sad that on my workplace, despite the implementation of a two-day work from home set-up, our office began to normalize calling us off hours and even on weekends. In fact in a memo prior to the implementation of the scheme, we were given the clause that there would be no overtime since you’re already working from the convenience of your home and it took us some time to process it and realize it is illegal and our bosses are benefiting from it. What’s worse is the memo will not be easily amended ‘coz our system here sucks 🤣

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    • Oh man, what a nightmare! I’m so sorry you have to go through that. I don’t even know all of the hang ups about WFH but I’m sure those are many too. As nurses, we often have our hours cut if our census is low so that is something, but I can’t imagine if they’ve told you you’re able to WFH they’re also going to cut your hours. That’s awful. The system does indeed suck!

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  15. Mandatory meetings and PD (professional development) days are relentless in the education field too. And taking a day off is so much work, having to create lesson plans and other prep involved. You’ve chosen an excellent topic that needs changing, yes! 👍🏻

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    • Man, I can only imagine how much work it is for teachers who need to take a day off to do anything, and it’s hard because those are the hours when everything is going on. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Michele and no doubt some of these aspects are everywhere which makes it so difficult sometimes to have a normal work/life balance

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      • Best to not imagine that teacher scenario. Bless public school teachers, nurses, and the countless other quiet heroes doing their best, every day. Thank you, Laura, for your engaging and thoughtful posts!

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  16. Healthcare costs are out of control in this country, and corporate greed is to blame. Work/life balance is hard to achieve. I think I mentioned in the past that it takes being in a senior position to enjoy some work/life balance. We can blame the lack of leadership for that. Many leaders don’t care about their people. They take on too much, knowing full well that they don’t have the resources to execute. The price: employees overwork, can’t take days off or vacations, lack professional development, experience high turnover, etc. I started to achieve some work/life balance at the end of my career. Sadly but true.

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    • You’re right Edward, the corporate greed is the worst thing we have to contend with. Yes you often do bring that to the forefront, in that only the senior leaders sometimes reap the rewards and often it is so true. There isn’t good leadership like there used to be. Everyone wants to be at the top but doesn’t want the responsibility that goes along with it. Isn’t that sad only at the end of your career you started to feel like you could achieve that? I want to be able to do that now and I feel like we should be able to. It’s hard. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights, they are very valuable!

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      • I agree with you that it is sad, but it should not be that way. There is a lot of stupidity out there. Leaders just need to take a little time to really know their people, understand their needs, and definitely know their team’s limitations (resources, time, skills, etc.).

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      • Hear, hear! Indeed, lots of stupidity to contend with. The problem is the leaders don’t care nowadays, either. Which is sad. Some do, I suppose. But again it comes down to the money and wanting the title without the responsibility, I feel. But you’re right, ultimately. A little extra step in improvement could go a long way.

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  17. Totally get that!
    I spent 28 years in Branch Banking. Studied for countless qualifications; ran offices with staff of up to 50; had gun pointed in my face; machetes brandished at me; evacuated my staff from a burning building; branch manager AND mortgage advisor. Only 7 ‘Sick’ days in 28 years (sporting injuries.)

    Then I got made redundant!

    Now I’m just about to retire after 17 years running my own Petcare business (mainly dog walking, but looking after all types of household pets.) 17 years slog, only max 2 weeks holiday a year; out in all weathers; only 1 day off sick in 17 years … and that was only a few weeks back! (Well, I’m not counting my cardiac arrest last year a s an illness since my Critical Illness insurance company don’t!) But even then, though signed off from work for 8 months, I went back, on a bike, after 10 weeks.

    It’s hard graft – but working for yourself is WAY more satisfying. Sure, you miss on holidays, sick pay and other benefits.

    I’m gonna miss it – especially all my wee animal pals – but I’m so glad in so many ways I was made redundant. 🙂

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  18. This text is bombastic! I have the same thoughts about this “work culture”, the entire daily performance in workplaces is extremely ridiculous, everyone looks like robots, thinks the same, talks the same, shares the same vibe (-) for decades or until they die. And anyone who dares to talk about vacations, maternity leave or time off is already seen with bad eyes by others. As you mentioned:- “Saying there’s a life out there seems bizarre.” When I reached this end of the rabbit hole, I knew that my decisions would result in revenge, however, I decided to no longer be a workaholic and find myself with the life that awaited me with open arms. We need to work to pay the bills, but everything must be balanced. And what’s more, the work environments are sinister, all of this drains us energetically. And the price of healthcare, as you mentioned, is truly absurd. Until consciousness evolves enough to change this paradigm, we will always be in conflict with our Self and with the System that exercises power on this planet. Sorry, my comment was too long, I just got carried away with this subject! 🤭 Thank you for the post and the beautiful images!

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    • I had a staff meeting yesterday ugh 😩 got me thinking about this post, yes indeed it’s always some turkey for sure, never wants to shut up and always thinks they have the most important things to say lol 😆

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  27. This is a great reflection. I was one of those workers. Feeding into a culture of working long hours and on weekends. But to what end? I’m 51 now. Have a job I love. I do my 8-5, but then I come home, and my life is my own. I dont stress, and I’m not consumed. My team operates like this, too. It’s a far better life. Thanks for sharing.

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    • Thanks Alison! Appreciate you sharing your thoughts! It’s always nice to have a stable job and home life! And good when you have people around you who feel the same as you 😊

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  29. I can relate to this. Being on the other side of 50, I can’t help but wonder what I am doing most days and when life will slow down. Then, I realized I was my worst enemy because I constantly over-tasked myself. Looking for the slow lane in life.

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