We live in a rat race world. Do more with less, and quicker! It's not just work either, at this point it seems to have permeated every aspect of life. Who out there can honestly say they've never felt guilty for not being productive on their own time?
Given those conditions, doing nothing becomes a special sort of luxury. By nothing I mean nothing productive, the sorts of things you do purely for personal enjoyment. An aberration in this era of late stage capitalism, it's a luxury that can't be denominated in dollars, you've got to make it for yourself.
When I was living on the streets I was struck by how the people who were much more well off materially seemed much more unhappy. While I'll never be able to prove it, I'm convinced that much of that was because I was able to do as I pleased while their lives were dictated by their jobs. (Side note: Kris Kristofferson was right, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose)
Even after I got off the streets and started pretending to be a cog in the machine adult I've tried my best to make time for my favorite luxury. Telling your boss to cut your hours because you'd rather have more time than more money is always a fun conversation.
Indulged in a bit of luxury myself last week, we'd had a camping trip planned but decided that a nice bit of time with nothing 'to do' hanging over us would be even more enjoyable. Instead we did exactly as we pleased and it was rather glorious.
So what's your favorite form of doing nothing?
Photos are all from Tom Wallace Lake in Jefferson Memorial Forest here in Louisville.
