Productive Leisure
I’m still thinking about Ina Garten’s commentary on doing less. We’re all clearly feeling it, though it feels like a lot of the grace we were feeling toward ourselves and each other at the beginning of the pandemic has dried up.
There was a great piece in the Atlantic recently on productive leisure.
“On the scourge of “productive leisure” and the very American conviction that even our free time should generate — at the minimum! — an enviable Instagram.”
Free time doesn’t feel very free when it costs a lot of mental and emotional energy.
And yet life is short. And there are so many things I want to try. So many things I want to learn. If this all ended tomorrow, would I be happy with the time spent staring at the ceiling? Scrolling through GoodReads? Going down random Googling rabbit holes such as: “How long does it take to get from New Zealand to Antarctica?”
[7 days. I was thinking Mali was so lucky to live close-ish to Antarctica. It turns out that it’s not that close. But still.]
Maybe I should turn off the computer. Pick back up my book.
3 comments
I think about this a lot. And then my cat died this week. And I think of all the time I’ve spent just sitting with her during this pandemic, while I read or watch tv. Maybe that time seemed unproductive but I am so happy I gave her that. At the end, when it was time, I know I have zero regrets about my time spent loving her and being loved. And that applies to my human family, too. All this time together doing nothing is not Instagram worthy, but I will not regret it.
If this all ended tomorrow, I’d be dead and wouldn’t care. 🙂
I don’t believe in productive leisure. That sounds like some BS capitalists thought up to keep the wheels turning. Leisure is supposed to be unproductive.
I’m laughing at you googling how long it takes to get to Antarctica from here. Of course, that’s by boat. Flying takes only a few hours, and all the US planes for McMurdo Sound leave from Christchurch (in the South Island). Of course, you can only fly in the summer months. I do know people who have done the cruises down to Antarctica from Chile (which is closer to Antarctica but an ocean away from us), and I’d love to do that, except for a) cruises have lost their lustre a bit since covid and b) the environmental impacts of cruises worry me in such a delicate environment.
Anyway, in my view, productive leisure is fine, but only if you don’t put undue pressure on yourself to do it AND you get serious enjoyment from it. I mean, productive leisure takes your mind off other responsibilities and worries, and that can be a really good thing. I found painting, for example, really therapeutic when I was grieving pregnancy losses, because I was totally focused on the canvas. I love learning new things, and find it enjoyable too.
But otherwise, it can be part of the cult of busy-ness, isn’t it? Doing these things to prove you’re not being lazy. But sometimes, being lazy is necessary for our health and well-being. And being lazy can include going down google rabbit holes, or blobbing in front of the Olympics on TV. I’m perfectly happy sitting on my deck with a glass of wine and NOT posting about it. I’ll be doing that in a couple of hours, and I’ll raise a glass to you. Cheers!