Let me examine this issue for I am of the opinion that laziness is intermittently beneficial to human beings.
If we constantly live manic, high energy lives that involve ticking off this before ticking off that, then I would ask - are we really living at all? As the poet W.H. Davies concludes in "Leisure":-
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
and I agree with him. Time for relaxation and reflection is crucial if we are to live fulfilling lives.
Investing every waking hour in work and home projects means that you never get time to weigh up how things might be going and before you know it there's new stuff in your mind
Why should we ever feel guilty about bouts of laziness? Why not just say it loud and proud - "I had a lazy day yesterday - I didn't do anything!"
People will often say, "What are you doing tomorrow?" or "What did you get up to yesterday?" or "What have you got planned for next week?". The answer "Nothing" should not always be delivered apologetically because "nothing" is often something. Closing your eyes to listen to the rain. Staring at the horizon as memories of long ago wash over you. Just sitting with your eyes half closed, breathing slowly and rhythmically in a kind of trance.
Laziness is an underrated state and it is quite different from boredom that is tinged with misery or withdrawal from the world of activity because you are just plain sick of it. I would go so far as to say we need laziness and to be very wary of the manic street preachers.
Buddhist monks often sit cross-legged, seemingly doing nothing. Perhaps they are watching a wood louse scurrying across the floor and maybe they are conscious of the wind ruffling the trees that grow next to the temple. Who is to say that they are living less significantly than the executives who jet across the world, logged in to their tablets or i-phones with people to see, places to go?
There is a lot to be said for being lazy.
I think laziness is part of protestantism, "idle hands are the devil's workshop", and I'm sure there are many more.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time sitting still, my self worth is often tied to what I produce, my husband is the opposite of me and it's taken both of years to accept the other but we do now which is nice.
I agree - it is all tied up with that old protestant ethic stuff.
DeleteYou make a good case for the benefits of being lazy.
ReplyDeleteAs a full-time secondary school teacher it was often very hard to make any lazy time during the working week.
DeleteI always recommend that people should read Bertrand Russell's book "In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays." It's time well spent.
ReplyDeleteI should look out for that but I am too idle to do so.
DeleteI saw a video recently which explained that some cultures view time not as a limited entity but as something we can create. By doing nothing. It was so profound, I wish I'd saved it and now I'll never find it again.
ReplyDeleteLazy is such a loaded, accusatory word, I try not to use it for fear I'm unintentionally revealing something bad about myself
Lazy is such a loaded, accusatory word... You got it in a nutshell Kylie.
DeleteFor the past 57 years, I have often been lazy and never apologised for it. As a child and teenager, I could spend an entire lazy Sunday just reading, something up to three books in the hours between waking up and going to sleep, only interrupted by a long, leisurely (lazy!) Sunday breakfast with the family and other meals.
ReplyDeleteThese days, I use my train trips as lazy times, just looking out of the window, letting my mind wander (similar to when I'm on a walk). Many people I observe on the train are spending even the shortest trip of ten minutes by frantically tapping away on their laptop computers or making important phone calls, to the benefit of everyone within earshot.
At work, I am never lazy - there is too much to be done, almost always within a set time. But without time I call entirely my own - lazy time, or as the modern term goes, "Me-Time", I'd go nuts.
A question of balance. Sometimes busy and focused but sometimes just lazily chilling with no feelings of guilt.
DeleteI could be the World Ambassador of Laziness. I am an expert at doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it should be an Olympic event.
DeleteHow true that quote is. Since my retirement I've found time to be lazy, though I'm usually reading, rather than physically doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteI think of the song...
DeleteWe're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of things not to do
We're busy goin' nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time
There is something that drives me on. A guilt formed of 'idle hands' I suppose, knitting sorts this. As for Buddhist monks, Paul was one for a year or so, but in their meditation time, if you fell asleep you would receive a sharp clip across the shoulders with a stick to wake you up.
ReplyDeleteI don't associate Buddhism with sticks or whips... but then again I think about what happened to the Rohingya people in Burma.
DeleteIt makes psychological sense. I wouldn't call it lazy.
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't but many would Tasker.
DeleteI agree. I wish I were better at it!
ReplyDeleteWhen you retire perhaps you can take a self-help course in laziness.
DeleteThis post rings so true! When I first retired, people would ask me what do you do all day? After so many inquiries about my time, I come up with this answer, "enjoying life."
ReplyDeleteHow about, "Errr... I can't remember"?
DeleteI enjoy a good lazy day every now and again; I think you need that time to recharge.
ReplyDeleteI like your philosophy Bob.
DeleteI cherish the days with all my heart when I have nothing I "have" to do. However, I am like Pixie in that my self-worth is also tied to what I can accomplish. It's ridiculous, really.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous is the word. Surely the main point of life is not to be constantly busy.
DeleteThank you for a wonderful Monday mood message. Maybe I will take the day off from retirement.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Retirement can be such hard work.
DeleteI really need to be lazy today as I am so tired from a weekend away to Texas with grandchildren. Lots of fun memories!
ReplyDeleteWere you able to act like a pack horse with the grandchildren riding on your back Ellen?
DeleteI so agree!
ReplyDeleteBe lazy and proud!
Delete