Get a job or save yourself?

Hello.

Last year I cleared my (20 year old) debts and that meant I was able to leave my 'career' (HA!) office job, and take the summer off. It was well nice to take so much time off, and led to me slowing down, enjoying 'the little things' more and also meant I had more time for getting out and about, fighting the good fight etc.etc. Also, it meant that i was fresher for meetings in the evening, took on more organising of events, fundraisers etc. Basically I became the better Anarchist that I had wanted to be.

On the down side, I hung out more in the 'activist ghetto', tended to pick and choose my aquaintances more rather than being forced into situations where I had to deal with people I didnt get on with, like I did at work. As someone who calls themselves 'working class' (HA!), I started to feel that I was losing the benefit of being a clear-thinker BUT still in touch with the prevailing norms. I like to think a varied life and an amiable toothless grin have resulted in me having a comparatively accurate social barometer, but through the summer I felt divorced from all the little 'reads' that you pick up on when you work as part of the 'Mass'.

Anyway, enough about me, i hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. Is it better to sacrifice a bit of personal social comfort to ensure you know whats going on at all the cultural cross-sections, to ensure your campaigning is relevant and your prop is on the money, or is it better to build within your own community, making it and yourself stronger, by using your limited time much more effectively? I know the answer is 'do both', but I'm interested in how we should spend the 40hrs a week I'm on about here.

Or have I set up a 'false opposition' as the student said to Paul Calf?!