Meet Miss Anika, Working Girl

So, I'm well into the second week of my new job and it feels great. One doesn't stop to think about how important it is to have a job to do. Not because it pays the bills (but oh boy, am I glad that I don't have to worry anymore about scraping next months rent together, not to mention how to pay for food). Also not because it keeps you occupied. It's more like having a purpose. Looking back at the end of the day and realizing that what you have done serves a purpose is a huge reward in itself.
The thing is I don't identify with my job. My job is not who I am but what I do. I really do appreciate that it truly is a nine to five job. One I leave behind at the office and do not take home with me. It has almost nothing to do with my general interests in life or what I have done in my studies. It is a means to an end. Namely to pay the bills. But it is a really interesting means. It not only keeps me occupied (and believe me, meaningful occupation is a blessing in and by itself), it keeps me involved and challenged. But when I log out of the computer in the evening that's it. I don't dwell on it, I don't really need or want to. What this job gives me is the freedom to pursue my interests in my own time. I can write, I can work at my non-profit project, I can spend time with friends, read, watch a movie. Free from worrying how to make ends meet and free from the feeling that I need to put everything I am into my work because it is so important or because it's for some greater good. My work is important but what I don't get done till 5 pm will keep for the next day. This is truly liberating.
And still, it gives me so much energy and satisfaction that I am doing something that benefits someone else and me at the same time. Because I can support myself and the work I put in is of use for my employer and my "clients".
In case you're wondering what it is that I do for a living now: I'm a custodian of estates. That means that for people who die without heirs or whose heirs are not known or have waived their rights in the succession I manage and sort out the estate. It's a very interesting and challenging job as no inheritance is like the other, just as everyone's life is unique.