In Praise of Idleness

I'm pretty sure the topic of idleness is fairly controversial.  After all, "the devil will find work for idle hands."  Searching through the litany of "famous" quotes about idleness, I have found a fairly even split between those that think idleness is a sin and those who think it a necessity.




I fall in the latter category. I find myself agreeing with John Lennon's song "Watching the Wheels" where he says, "Everybody seems to think I'm lazy/I don't mind, I think they're crazy./Running everywhere at such a speed/Till they find there's no need."  Sometimes, I think we keep busy to give the ourselves the allusion that we are very useful members of society.  While I fully believe that we are all useful members of society, I don't believe that it is our productivity that makes us so.  I think that our simply "being" makes us important.

If our entire worth is based on how busy we are, or how much we produce, what is to be said of children or the disabled who often don't have skills that directly feed the economy?  What about people who actively avoid as much consumerism as they can?  Are they sloth-like because they opt-out of our most entrenched societal norms?

In the last 24 hours, a little over a foot of snow has fallen here.  The side roads are a mess and the main streets are getting better, but it takes a while to clear that much snow. Thus, schools are closed.  While I usually avoid story comments, I love reading the ones attached to articles about school closings.  The rage and indignation registered by adults that children are not going to school is both comical and sad.  Apparently, a snow day is a sign of the looming collapse of the American Empire because our children are too soft to go to school while the streets are impassable.  If we were actually a society that was truly pro-family values, more adults would get snow days without fear of economic reprisal.  Honestly, short of emergency services, if an office or the mall doesn't open today, would the world come to an end? Of course not.  Is it truly idle to go outside and build a snow fort with the kids or to read a book on the couch?  No.  It is these snippets of down time that allow us to recharge and remember what is important in life.

Today, the office where I work stayed closed.  I am going to use this found time to do a little reading and pamper myself a bit.  Maybe paint my nails.  I don't feel one bit guilty.