Idly, Ideally
My papa likes to tell people that we are not here to produce, which sounds crazy to people in the US. Hell, we pride ourselves on being productive, and we punish people socially (and economically) for not maintaining standards of productivity. We believe them to be immoral or unethical.
Perhaps it’s just where I am right now, but I find myself looking around at work. What am I producing? Value? For whom?
Do I benefit when I work 60 hour weeks? Do I make my life better? Do I help anyone?
No. No, I really don’t. I accept that to work is to exchange the time you have alive for money, and that money for the product of other peoples’ time. That’s fundamental economics. I accept that I will need to spend a certain percentage of my life this way to facilitate the rest of my life. I accept that a value will be assigned to my life and time by someone who doesn’t understand either.
I’m just not satisfied with it as a life strategy. It’s not enough for me.
Papa reminds me that the purpose of life is to live: that is, you don’t need to seek a grand purpose. The fact that you are living means that you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Trying to force people to constantly be more and more productive is both unnatural and spends their life away for nothing of value.
Ironically, he works a lot, but it’s for the spirits and communities. All hours, day and night, you can find him doing what needs doing for people. He balances it, and spends a fair amount of time relaxing.
For me, he has asked me to do less, to be idle—a luxury I’ve never allowed myself. I’ve had as many as three jobs at once most of my life and I have the joint damage to prove it. My knees sound like popcorn.
The idea is increasingly appealing, doing nothing from time-to-time, not distracted by the requirement to make and make and make. Not distracted by requirements and deadlines and people’s expectations or the overbearing moral imperative to make money for company stockholders lest I be seen as immoral or unethical.
I’d like to be asked what I’m doing and answer that I’m doing nothing. All things in balance.
