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Art X Corporative World

"Do you know how to fully express yourself? Is the company that you work for doing something to help?"

By Manuela GomesPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
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Well, I am a former professional ballet dancer that retired at a young age and soon went to college so I could study and get prepared to enter the corporative world.

From 9 years old, until I was 21 I lived an artist's life. Full of emotions, ups and downs. Full of makeup, costumes, sceneries and performances. It was just like a movie, but real, with hard work and pain.

I was the only dancer in the family, and frequently I was asked, “What are your plans for the future? You know… dance is not a real job!” So I started to question my choices and after a while, I decided to taste a new option, I decided to be "normal", meaning "to study, go to college, find a job in a company..."

So from 21 years old on I started to focus on studies and quit my ballet dancer career so I could finally try to fit into the "real world", as people would advise me.

When I got into University I felt like a dream was coming true. All those young and beautiful students around me, everybody drinking, eating, socialising. It was everything, so free and different from the Ballet world. I could not believe how great life was. I thought I wasn't going to like it, but the opposite happened and I loved it.

During my second year at university, I got my first job as a Marketing Analyst Intern. Again, I was so happy! Can you imagine, after years being an artist I was finally going to get to know what was like to “dress social”!

I used to go to work all dressed up. Like I was some kind of celebrity. Everything and everybody sounded so perfect that I needed to find a way to at least pretend I was part of all of that.

Well, from this internship until recently I have been trying to fit in, I have been trying to prove to everybody else that I am similar to them, that I don’t need to dance and follow the music, that I don’t need to fully express myself to be happy.

Perhaps because I lived in this Art/Dance world and left it I can see how important it is to feel alive, to move, to connect with Art. For me, it is a necessity of life. And, it should be for all.

I don't try to fit anywhere anymore because I finally realised that I am not wrong. Contrarywise, the corporative world needs to be a little bit more like me.

Most companies give you benefits such as health insurance, vacation & paid time off, a retirement plan, dental and vision insurance, maternity & paternity leave... and the list goes on. However, no company cares about your well-being.

Sometimes gym is included in the benefits given by the companies, however going to the gym is not the solution, the solution for a healthy soul is to do an exercise that brings you joy, that lets your emotions out, that makes you sweat...that makes you give all you have got to one moment.

The corporative world needs to find a way to let their employees express themselves. There is an emptiness in them.

Hours are spent in front of computer screens with absolute silent, without any movement. Every day. Like zombies.

People are not living their lives anymore, they are just letting the life pass by.

I had to be an artist and try to fit into the corporative world to find out that we don't need to choose between one or the other, we need to find a balance.

So, now I will ask you a very important thing, please think about it: "Do you know how to fully express yourself? Is the company that you work for doing something to help?"

advicecareerbusinesshumanity
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