Text and images by Chen Chi-Hsiang

"I like work: it fascinates me, I can watch for several hours." — Jorome K Jerome

The French say that working is healthy. Indeed, everyone works throughout their life, busy with tasks, seemingly endless. Everyone needs work; work produces, producing bread. Each person’s mode of production differs: some work for bread, others for interest. Work divides into service and labor types. Service workers often go to gyms or do outdoor sports in their spare time, while laborers, such as farmers or manual workers, seem satisfied after a day’s toil, resting fully during leisure. Exercise and rest both aim for a healthy body.

For us freelancers, neither in service nor labor, we mostly engage in work we are interested in and enjoy. This type requires taking responsibility for one’s own life. As an artistic creator, value demands personal diligence in cultivation and development. Those in this type of work most easily indulge in their own work, watching completed or unfinished pieces for hours, narcissistically enjoying themselves.

I like my work (creation and writing) and am fascinated by it. For me, only in the countryside can I truly have opportunities for physical labor. I like natural plants and flowers, so tidying up the vegetable garden and courtyard environment is most delightful. Every day I immerse myself in yard work: watering, weeding, pruning plants, planting flowers, cleaning the garage, turning soil to fill the front yard, opening new garden areas. Sweating under the hot sun, yet enjoying it, flipping my body brings a sense of physical and mental liberation.

As a painter, I apply paint with the patience and care of painting. Applying paint has the thrill of painting. Before the summer vacation ended, I spent three whole days renovating the old iron gate at the entrance and the fence railings at once. From removing rust, moss, and peeling paint to applying new coats, I chose a calm deep blue, giving the iron gate new aspirations and a new scene. Sandwiched between two tall blue cedars and a giant Christmas tree, a new picture emerges that never tires the eye. I simply moved a folding chair to sit in front of the main gate, gazing and admiring for half a day. Both work and the new scenery fascinate me, like French writer Jorome K Jerome: "I like work: it fascinates me, I can stay for hours looking at it" (J’aime le travail : il me fascine, je peux rester des heures à le regarder).