Life of Wry

Cows have nothing but time in their day.

Thinking about leisure.  Hard not to think about leisure when you’re driving through the bucolic coastal hills of Marin County, looking at field after field, hill after hill of cows–cows who pretty much just stand around eating grass all day.

I have a lot of time these days, too.

Trying really hard to both appreciate the time I have right now, and not feel guilty about having so much of it.  It’s not like I’m standing around chewing my cud all day…I mean, I do stuff, but I just have a lot of time to do it in. It’s an intentional period of no work: clearing the decks, taking care of long-deferred projects, experimenting with writing, pondering life, work, priorities… thinking about my next move.

Really.  I promise.  I’m working hard at this.  But…

Being a person with a lot of leisure time already, it’s a bit weird taking off for a few days for Dillon Beach.  Taking off what? It felt more like a change of scenery and some time to spend alone with Jim.  I enjoy both of those things, of course, but it was not substantively different than my current day-to-day existence.  The coast is very different from Davis, but my time was not unlike my time at home…  hung out, took walks, did a bit of cooking, messed with photos, blogged, read. Lots of quiet.

Watched more movies and played more scrabble than at home… so there was that.

But leisure really needs to exist in a context of an absence of leisure in order to reap its full benefit.  Otherwise, there’s just not enough contrast.

It’s like swimming in water that is the same temperature as the air around you.  You don’t feel it, don’t get a refreshing hit off of it.  Or going to bed when you’re not tired, or getting a massage when you haven’t worked out, or eating when you’re not hungry.

Leisure is best enjoyed when you’ve worked hard to earn it.

I read this quote the other day that says it pretty well:

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen. -Jerome K. Jerome, humorist and playwright (1859-1927)