A thought came to me tonight, seemingly from nowhere. It’s about the subtle space between two small words: the difference between working “with” people and working “for” them.
On the surface, they might seem the same. But I’ve come to realize they are worlds apart.
To work with people suggests a flat landscape. A place of equals, where collaboration replaces command. There is no hierarchy, just a shared effort. Most would probably say this is the ideal, the better way to be. And it does sound beautiful, doesn’t it?
But I’ve reflected on this. In that shared equality, I feel a strange kind of cage. To ensure everyone is considered, you must constantly tolerate and adjust. Your ideas, your space, your very workflow is limited by the presence of others. Freedom becomes a negotiation.
Then there is working for people. It sounds more restrictive, I know. You are under someone, following an order from an “upper hand.” And yet… I find more room to breathe here. More freedom.
The order itself is a boundary, a frame. But inside that frame, the canvas is entirely mine. The “how” is left to me. The methods are mine. The process is mine. It is a limited space, yes, but within that limit, I have total ownership. Within those walls, I am free to do the work as myself, by myself.
Perhaps this is a confession that I am a “lone wolf” at heart. I find a quiet joy in doing things my way, even if the final destination was pointed out by another. I am okay with being under a command, if it means I am given a space(no matter how small) that is fully my own.
It’s a strange trade-off, isn’t it? To accept a boundary in exchange for a more absolute, more personal kind of freedom. I don’t know. Maybe that’s not a contradiction at all. Maybe that’s just the shape of my own peace. Wdyt?