Living a charmed life

I was speaking to someone recently who said they lived a charmed life.

Yet they were speaking to me about their work, which they had come to resent. 

At work, they were taken for granted, exploited, rarely acknowledged and paid very well. 

As if being paid well gives permission to treat people badly. 

You get paid to be a prostitute, and sometimes you might get paid well, but you are still being fu**cked. 

I challenged the charmed life statement. What did this mean? Taking exotic holidays, travelling at the pointy end of the plane? Living in a beautiful house. Not having debt? Charmed for four weeks of the year?

These things are nice to have, yet we spend the majority of our days at work. 

The still-prevailing narrative is to work hard, climb the ladder, and get exotic holidays, all the while prostituting ourselves at work. 

The person I was speaking with is brilliant, able, and integrous. Having worked for the machine and being paid very well for a while, they have choices few people have. Yet that salary traps them. Lifestyle maintenance is expensive in this game.

My definition of a charmed life is very different. Simpler. Less stuff. Small spending. Plus doing work that matters and makes your heart sing. Travel, which I love, is on a budget, going to places where you meet the locals on the ground. Investing time and energy into health. And being with your beloveds. 

The game we are seduced to play is a shitty game. Make your own game.

Photo Taken May 7th 2023, Article published November 20th, 2025