That Makes It All Worthwhile
I was at work today, and feeling a little stressed. I had to redo a piece of work because the project team had given me completely misleading information about the requirements, and I was fighting with the SQL to get it to spit out the results that I wanted. And of course there's the inevitable downside of taking a week off: you have a week's work to do before you've even started.
It wasn't that bad, and I could tell that it wasn't that bad because I hadn't gotten S&M by Rihanna stuck in my head, which always happens when I get really stressed (don't ask why, I don't even like Rihanna). But it could have been better, and I was feeling the pressure a little on this piece.
And then I got an email from a former colleague in a different team, a woman whom I used to work under when I first joined the company. She told me that she had finished my book on Sunday, and she really enjoyed it.
And from that moment nothing else mattered. It didn't matter that I had doubts about the letter template, it didn't matter that I could produce all the results I wanted, it didn't matter that the SQL was slow...none of it. I still did the work obviously (say I, in case my boss should happen across this) but it couldn't bother me because I was walking on air.
I'm reminded of something that the inimitable John C Wright once said about writing even if only one reader appreciates it. You may well say that a single reader's appreciation will not put bread on the table and it will not, but at the moment I earn my bread in the Pension's office, and so one woman's praise is enough to go along with the little money I make from this passion of mine.
Remember: so long as one reader smiles, it's a victory.
