Like most of my generation, I was brought up on the saying “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” Being a highly virtuous child, I believed all that I was told and acquired a conscience which has kept me working hard down to the present moment. But although my conscience has controlled my actions, my opinions have undergone a revolution. I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached. Every one knows the story of the traveler in Naples who saw twelve beggars lying in the sun (it was before the days of Mussolini), and offered a lira to the laziest of them. Eleven of them jumped up to claim it, so he gave it to the twelfth. This traveler was on the right lines.
This pandemic has created a lot of enforced change in the way we live, suddenly you find yourself with lots of time on your hands. At first it might be frustrating and boring, but a bit of reflection and you will soon realise that you can survive without stressing yourself out at a lousy job for crap wages, just to pay rent/mortgage, TV license, car, and other bills that come with a very busy life. Do you need all those bells and whistles, bobbles, bubble gum and popcorn that this work ethic society throws at you? After all do your really want to be running against a clock and jumping through hoops to the detriment of your health, at somebody else's dictate?
As always when I visit Not Buying Anything blog, I find common sense in plain language, this visit was no different.
The following is from Not Buying Anything:
Since the beginning, this blog has been promoting the idea that doing less, not more, is the way to lasting happiness.
My personal motto is: "Do less with less, and do it less often."
That has set me at odds with mainstream notions of a work ethic, but I couldn't be bothered to care any more. But is doing less lazy? It could be self-preservation. Or just enjoying life.
When workaholism is the expectation, slowing down (or-gasp!-stopping) reflects a dangerous lack of ambition and initiative. Who thought that shit up?
I don't think it was a worker that invented the work till you drop ethic. It sounds like something a boss would come up with.
Although people in fast nations have forgotten it, not all humans have accepted accelerated lifestyles high on speed and stuff, but low on quality of life. Some cultures see no shame in cultivating the art of doing nothing, and have done so since time immemorial without being guilted into exchanging that for "productive activity". Whatever that means. Sounds like the bosses again.
Now, perhaps those of us in North America may be finally learning something about the benefits of being idle. Just because we are in a lockdown does not mean we can't gain something from it.Let that be at least one take away - during this pandemic I hope people discover the childlike heavenly simplicity of doing nothing. On purpose, and repeatedly.
This is an excellent opportunity to Begin Building Better. Sorry, I got a little slogany there. But I persist. How about starting a whole new life? One can do that when one finds one's self at the bottom, which is a good place to start a new foundation.
Allowing ourselves idle time will lead to slower, more intentional ways of living, ones which have nothing to do with infinite speediness, and the endless pursuit of wealth, power, and fame. Quite the opposite. We can leave that behind us.
This is about being in that glorious moment of non-productive bliss. This is about taking back power and control over your own person.
For, as Tom Hodgkinson says in his book How To Be Idle, "Idleness is not a giving up on life, but a spirited grabbing hold of it."
So grab hold of a bit of American idle today.
You might like it.
