The Tyranny of Monotony in Work

I have already written about the inspiration for my blog name, which is the children’s book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. While one specific chapter in that book gave this blog its name, the other chapters also have relevant life lessons to share, like Chapter 14, and specifically the lessons it imparts about passion and the need for change. Monotony in work can affect the rest of your life and wellbeing.

This chapter comes after our little prince has left his planet and the flower he loves. He’s visited four different planets now, occupied by a king, a vain man, a drunkard, and a businessman respectively, before landing on this fifth planet.

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Chapter 14

The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince couldn’t quite understand what use a street lamp and lamplighter could be up there in the sky, on a planet without any people and not a single house. However, he said to himself, It’s quite possible that this man is absurd. But he’s less absurd than the king, the very vain man, the businessman, and the drunkard. At least his work has some meaning. When he lights his lamp, it’s as if he’s bringing one more star to life, or one more flower. When he puts out his lamp, that sends the flower or the star to sleep. Which is a fine occupation. And therefore truly useful.

When the little prince reached the planet, he greeted the lamplighter respectfully. “Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?”

“Orders,” the lamplighter answered. “Good morning.”

“What orders are those?”

“To put out my street lamp. Good evening.” And he lit his lamp again.

“But why have you just lit the lamp again?”

“Orders.”

“I don’t understand,” said the little prince.

“There’s nothing to understand,” said the lamplighter. “Orders are orders. Good morning.” And he put out his lamp. Then he wiped his forehead with a red-checked handkerchief. “It’s a terrible job I have. It used to be reasonable enough. I put the lamp out mornings and lit it after dark. I had the rest of the day for my own affairs, and the rest of the night for sleeping.”

“And since then orders have changed?”

“Orders haven’t changed,” the lamplighter said. “That’s just the trouble! Year by year the planet is turning faster and faster, and orders haven’t changed!”

“Which means?”

“Which means that now that the planet revolves once a minute, I don’t have an instant’s rest. I light my lamp and turn it out once every minute!”

“That’s funny! Your days here are one minute long!”

“It’s not funny at all,” the lamplighter said. “You and I have already been talking to each other for a month.”

“A month?”

“Yes. Thirty minutes. Thirty days! Good evening.” And he lit his lamp.

The little prince watched him, growing fonder and fonder of this lamplighter who was so faithful to orders. He remembered certain sunsets that he himself used to follow in other days, merely by shifting his chair. He wanted to help his friend.

“You know…I can show you a way to take a rest whenever you want to.”

“I always want to rest,” the lamplighter said, for it is possible to be faithful and lazy at the same time.

The little prince continued, “Your planet is so small that you can walk around it in three strides. All you have to do is walk more slowly, and you’ll always be in the sun. When you want to take a rest just walk…and the day will last as long as you want it to.”

“What good does that do me,” the lamplighter said, “when the one thing in life I want to do is sleep?”

“Then you’re out of luck,” said the little prince.

“I am,” said the lamplighter. “Good morning.” And he put out his lamp.

Now that man, the little prince said to himself as he continued on his journey, that man would be despised by all the others, by the king, by the very vain man, by the drunkard, by the businessman. Yet he’s the only one who doesn’t strike me as ridiculous. Perhaps it’s because he’s thinking of something besides himself. He heaved a sigh of regret and said to himself, again, That man is the only one I might have made my friend. But his planet is really too small. There’s no room for two…

            What the little prince dared not admit was that he most regretted leaving that planet because it was blessed with one thousand, four hundred forty sunsets every twenty-four hours!

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There are two important lessons that I want to focus on from this chapter.

Tyranny of Monotony in Work

Presumably, at some point the lamplighter enjoyed his job. He found it fulfilling and productive. But doing the same thing day in and day out, at an ever-increasing pace, can suck the joy out of any passion. Sound familiar? Like a 9-5 until you’re 65, perhaps? Whether or not you love your job is not the point—sometimes, that doesn’t matter.

The idea of doing the same thing for the rest of my life makes me antsy and restless. As much as I enjoy the work I’m doing, I don’t want to sit in an office for the majority of my life. Like the lamplighter, “it is possible to be faithful and lazy at the same time.” The Little Prince admires the lamplighter for his purpose that involves “thinking of something besides himself,” but when I read about the lamplighter, I’m struck by the sense of despair that the monotony has created in his day-to-day (and minute-to-minute!) life. I don’t want that for myself—for meaningful work to become monotonous. Which leads me to my second takeaway from the chapter:

Finding Meaningful Work

The Financial Independence Movement is tied almost automatically to “retiring early,” which is ironic because most of the movement’s vanguards are not in a traditional sense retired at all. Instead, they’ve left conventional jobs and have found other ways of earning incomes that give them freedom and flexibility.

I want to reach financial independence not so that I can sit on a beach and do nothing for the rest of my life, but so I can take risks and follow opportunities that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with now. I love the idea of working from home, building a business, trying new things and learning new topics, but a) I’m too risk-averse to leave a good traditional job that gives me a 401(k) and health insurance and stability, and b) I don’t have the bandwidth to fully pursue those other things while working 40 hours a week. Which means that I’m stuck in a loop.

Breaking the Loop

I’m slowly figuring ways to branch out while still working full time—I started this blog, didn’t I? And I’m experimenting with changing habits so that I find more meaning in my downtime. But I can sympathize with the lamplighter, who wants nothing more than to rest. He can’t even contemplate the benefits of simply walking in the sun because he’s so worn down by his obligations. I’m trying to walk in the sun more, and I’m definitely working to find avenues that will allow me to stay in the sun all the time*.

*but only metaphorically; I’m crazy pale and burn at the thought of sunlight…