Being retired, I sometimes feel I should show more for what I do on a daily basis, as I could do while working, but then I remember how, when working, I longed for a lazy day of doing nothing, to taking a walk in the park in the middle of the week, or just lounge in my pajamas to read a book. When I remember I've earned these moments, I can then luxuriate in them!
A lot of it seems to come back to meditative engagement. Focused, yet unpressured and without a sense of burden or obligation. I tend to think of the meditative focus on one point or one train of one sort or another (an image, breathe, etc.) as an opportunity for our fragmented selves to have a momentary stand-in of an anchor—becoming a sort of organizing principle where we can reorient ourselves away from other things we have to force ourselves to organize around (work and other obligations, while we may even willingly embrace these). Then we have the opportunity to return to a more pliable state and regain a fluidity in ourselves that allows for more flow—creativity and responsiveness in all areas of our lives. And along the way, the opportunity to choose our more authentic organizing principles for our selves and our lives. In the case of JB above, it almost sounds more like a meditation and a period of fasting than a Dionysian frenzy. Only eating old dry bread and a little water along the way, eliminating other distractions by just being focused on the game, only being awake when others are asleep, creating solitude and further less distractions or detours. Incidentally—looking up JRPG’s to find out what they are, I see what look like samurais and sounds like there’s a distinct aesthetic to these games. If they do revolve around samurai existence, I’d say that highlights that quality of asceticism in preparation for battle that my gut tells me was the tradition for many forms and bands of warriors across cultures and throughout time—it seems that JB is playing the role even in the real world. By the end of the journey JB’s lost weight and feels detoxed and mentally refreshed. All of this—the process and the results—feels like a period of meditation and fasting to me, albeit certainly non-traditional and nothing one would normally brag to the yogis about. It’s fascinating though, because it works for JB and that’s what matters. Thinking about it I’ve had somewhat similar experiences, and I have less dramatic versions of my own. It points to what the real efficacious mechanisms of meditation and fasting are—separated from acquired rituals and expectations that might be helpful for some but may in fact be unnecessary. Still, there is an interesting similarity between the asceticism of JB’s practice and a Dionysian frenzy. Perhaps it’s that JB’s practice looks hedonistic or gluttonous on the surface until you look at it more closely. Then at the same time, Dionysian frenzy can have a powerful effect—perhaps reorienting one’s organizing principles in it’s own ways. There’s something to be said for how inebriation let alone a sip of wine can set one’s interior spinning, unmooring us and setting us free to reorient and land in ourselves in a new way. Perhaps this has more in common with meditating as a whirling dervish (though it only sparks the thought for me—I don’t know all that much about the practice.) Seems like there are interesting ways that all three of these practices relate.
Really true and powerful stuff about rest! This is something I feel quite strongly when I’ve wasted time binging, but the allure is so potent that it’s the first thing I think to do when I have “time off”. Maybe it would be better if I sat in quiet meditation for a few minutes before deciding what to do, I might actually read more of the book I’m enjoying, or go for a walk, or make a spontaneous plan to meet with a friend. All are within my power to make happen, yet I continuously find myself drawn into the laziest thing I could do… why might this be? Attention economy? Evolutionary tactic to save energy? Whatever it is I think we could all do with waking ourselves up and doing what we truly want to do, even if it takes effort.
As the saying goes: everything worth doing takes effort!
As for the occasional foot-off-the-breaks moments I think they can offer quite a profound escape from reality and therefore once we ‘come back down to earth’ everything feels fresh, like it’s the first time in a long time we’ve seen it.
Thank you very much, very interesting article. I cannot help but agree and see how fast weekends end. By the way, otium is Latin, not Greek. As, the famous sentence by Cicero, otium cum dignitate, the rest allowed once you've fulfilled all your duties.
Thank you! You're right - that's a cock up. I've edited it in my text now but leaving your comment to a) express my thanks and b) to act as a digital memorial to my incompetence.
Not at all, Jonny! I wish I had your incompetence 😄. I think it's worth noting that the Romans had the antithesis otium / negotium (nec otium) i.e. not laziness. In Spanish it's negocio (business in English). As if agency is connected with not being lazy on the couch. Thank you again for your magnificent content.
I am trying to teach this to my kids. There is a time for everything… once your duties are fulfilled. Fulfilling your duties makes the downtime all the more special.
This is beautiful, and very timely for my current experiments in taking more time for active leisure - walking, reading, crafting. It feels climbing up to take a breath of fresh air after lazily sitting in a stagnant room.
The problem is finding people who like to play card games besides Bridge and board games beyond chess. Folks do everything online and old card games like Canasta or Pinochle have fallen by the wayside.
this post was good and timely for me as I'm undertaking a research piece I've wanted to do for decades - just getting into it isn't such a drag - it's the hard yakka of every day, the keeping on - without fail otherwise risk loosing the drive. Although about your recording omission: I once undertool a large photography piece and left the lens cap on - the whole day. Ce'est la vie!! :)
I join a writer’s group for an hour and a half and connect with others who are all prompted to write about the same subject, question or image. It’s a relaxing and fulfilling thing to do on a Sunday morning when I may need a bit of structure. I then do a leisure activity rather than chores or anything that feels like drudgery or work. On your other question, I love watching Woody Allen movies because they feel like home to me, and I would certainly rank him among the ‘immoral’.
Passion is its own reward. I very much miss real passion. I do not quite know where it went, but I am not the same as when I was younger. The article was, however, an inspiration to leave narka and find some passion.
Brilliant- I particularly loved the bit about needing the occasional bout of excess - so often I feel and give into the impulse to stay up and feel both better and less grown up for it. It was nice to read about that from someone else! As for engaging with work by monsters - no thanks.There are enough beautiful things in the world ( and artists from minority groups to find who are not let through by gatekeepers but are nonetheless great artists) to make a deliberate choice not to engage with work by those who are monstrous in the way they are cruel to or dehumanise others.
This is very well-written and relatable! Thank you. This sends my attention back to a concept I have enjoyed spending a lot of time thinking about over the years; the idea of "work" and what that word truly means. I often view my time away from my corporate job also as "work." But I don't mean work in the 9-5 sense; I mean that it is my labor of love. My time away from my job is something I have worked to intentionally shape into room for me to do my "life's work": photography, writing, personal art projects, making my space beautiful and feel good, nurturing my connections and relationships, with both myself and others. The things that have supported my efforts the most have been integrating social activities into my routine that fill my cup (yoga class, tea ceremonies, frequenting my favorite cafes) and also shrinking away from my social media presence. I also have intentionally chosen to not own a television (I have a projector for when I want to host movie nights with friends). When I let go of "performing myself" on social media, I found that I started actually just BEING myself. I noticed that I started having more energy, and began feeling more inspired to spend more and more of my "free time" dedicated to furthering my spiritual and social well-being and growth, instead of feeling called to scroll or turn numbly inward. It is not an easy shift, but it feels really good to be as far away from "auto-pilot" as I can reasonably be. I also absolutely love what Dani wrote about being focused yet unpressured and without a sense of obligation. That resonates so much.
I know how to make my leisure time "work" well for me. Irony intended. I see others who are close to me, however, struggle to make their leisure time work well for them. Your essay gave me a few new ways to talk about the subject, so certainly I found your writing far more growth than meh.
Being retired, I sometimes feel I should show more for what I do on a daily basis, as I could do while working, but then I remember how, when working, I longed for a lazy day of doing nothing, to taking a walk in the park in the middle of the week, or just lounge in my pajamas to read a book. When I remember I've earned these moments, I can then luxuriate in them!
A lot of it seems to come back to meditative engagement. Focused, yet unpressured and without a sense of burden or obligation. I tend to think of the meditative focus on one point or one train of one sort or another (an image, breathe, etc.) as an opportunity for our fragmented selves to have a momentary stand-in of an anchor—becoming a sort of organizing principle where we can reorient ourselves away from other things we have to force ourselves to organize around (work and other obligations, while we may even willingly embrace these). Then we have the opportunity to return to a more pliable state and regain a fluidity in ourselves that allows for more flow—creativity and responsiveness in all areas of our lives. And along the way, the opportunity to choose our more authentic organizing principles for our selves and our lives. In the case of JB above, it almost sounds more like a meditation and a period of fasting than a Dionysian frenzy. Only eating old dry bread and a little water along the way, eliminating other distractions by just being focused on the game, only being awake when others are asleep, creating solitude and further less distractions or detours. Incidentally—looking up JRPG’s to find out what they are, I see what look like samurais and sounds like there’s a distinct aesthetic to these games. If they do revolve around samurai existence, I’d say that highlights that quality of asceticism in preparation for battle that my gut tells me was the tradition for many forms and bands of warriors across cultures and throughout time—it seems that JB is playing the role even in the real world. By the end of the journey JB’s lost weight and feels detoxed and mentally refreshed. All of this—the process and the results—feels like a period of meditation and fasting to me, albeit certainly non-traditional and nothing one would normally brag to the yogis about. It’s fascinating though, because it works for JB and that’s what matters. Thinking about it I’ve had somewhat similar experiences, and I have less dramatic versions of my own. It points to what the real efficacious mechanisms of meditation and fasting are—separated from acquired rituals and expectations that might be helpful for some but may in fact be unnecessary. Still, there is an interesting similarity between the asceticism of JB’s practice and a Dionysian frenzy. Perhaps it’s that JB’s practice looks hedonistic or gluttonous on the surface until you look at it more closely. Then at the same time, Dionysian frenzy can have a powerful effect—perhaps reorienting one’s organizing principles in it’s own ways. There’s something to be said for how inebriation let alone a sip of wine can set one’s interior spinning, unmooring us and setting us free to reorient and land in ourselves in a new way. Perhaps this has more in common with meditating as a whirling dervish (though it only sparks the thought for me—I don’t know all that much about the practice.) Seems like there are interesting ways that all three of these practices relate.
Really true and powerful stuff about rest! This is something I feel quite strongly when I’ve wasted time binging, but the allure is so potent that it’s the first thing I think to do when I have “time off”. Maybe it would be better if I sat in quiet meditation for a few minutes before deciding what to do, I might actually read more of the book I’m enjoying, or go for a walk, or make a spontaneous plan to meet with a friend. All are within my power to make happen, yet I continuously find myself drawn into the laziest thing I could do… why might this be? Attention economy? Evolutionary tactic to save energy? Whatever it is I think we could all do with waking ourselves up and doing what we truly want to do, even if it takes effort.
As the saying goes: everything worth doing takes effort!
As for the occasional foot-off-the-breaks moments I think they can offer quite a profound escape from reality and therefore once we ‘come back down to earth’ everything feels fresh, like it’s the first time in a long time we’ve seen it.
Thank you very much, very interesting article. I cannot help but agree and see how fast weekends end. By the way, otium is Latin, not Greek. As, the famous sentence by Cicero, otium cum dignitate, the rest allowed once you've fulfilled all your duties.
Thank you! You're right - that's a cock up. I've edited it in my text now but leaving your comment to a) express my thanks and b) to act as a digital memorial to my incompetence.
Not at all, Jonny! I wish I had your incompetence 😄. I think it's worth noting that the Romans had the antithesis otium / negotium (nec otium) i.e. not laziness. In Spanish it's negocio (business in English). As if agency is connected with not being lazy on the couch. Thank you again for your magnificent content.
I am trying to teach this to my kids. There is a time for everything… once your duties are fulfilled. Fulfilling your duties makes the downtime all the more special.
This is beautiful, and very timely for my current experiments in taking more time for active leisure - walking, reading, crafting. It feels climbing up to take a breath of fresh air after lazily sitting in a stagnant room.
Thank you for this 😊
The problem is finding people who like to play card games besides Bridge and board games beyond chess. Folks do everything online and old card games like Canasta or Pinochle have fallen by the wayside.
This was a very good article.
Thank you Anthony!
this post was good and timely for me as I'm undertaking a research piece I've wanted to do for decades - just getting into it isn't such a drag - it's the hard yakka of every day, the keeping on - without fail otherwise risk loosing the drive. Although about your recording omission: I once undertool a large photography piece and left the lens cap on - the whole day. Ce'est la vie!! :)
Thank you for this, perfect subject for a Saturday morning, great read and very relatable!
'Do you enjoy creations by... monsters?'
Hell no. I'm more likely to boycott stuff like that to not even get the temptation to possibly enjoy it.
This is my miniscule contribution towards change, the passive side of it anyway.
I join a writer’s group for an hour and a half and connect with others who are all prompted to write about the same subject, question or image. It’s a relaxing and fulfilling thing to do on a Sunday morning when I may need a bit of structure. I then do a leisure activity rather than chores or anything that feels like drudgery or work. On your other question, I love watching Woody Allen movies because they feel like home to me, and I would certainly rank him among the ‘immoral’.
Passion is its own reward. I very much miss real passion. I do not quite know where it went, but I am not the same as when I was younger. The article was, however, an inspiration to leave narka and find some passion.
If you live in LA and weekends are not the busiest days of the week, it's a crime.
Much needed reminder 🤍 great read
Brilliant- I particularly loved the bit about needing the occasional bout of excess - so often I feel and give into the impulse to stay up and feel both better and less grown up for it. It was nice to read about that from someone else! As for engaging with work by monsters - no thanks.There are enough beautiful things in the world ( and artists from minority groups to find who are not let through by gatekeepers but are nonetheless great artists) to make a deliberate choice not to engage with work by those who are monstrous in the way they are cruel to or dehumanise others.
This is very well-written and relatable! Thank you. This sends my attention back to a concept I have enjoyed spending a lot of time thinking about over the years; the idea of "work" and what that word truly means. I often view my time away from my corporate job also as "work." But I don't mean work in the 9-5 sense; I mean that it is my labor of love. My time away from my job is something I have worked to intentionally shape into room for me to do my "life's work": photography, writing, personal art projects, making my space beautiful and feel good, nurturing my connections and relationships, with both myself and others. The things that have supported my efforts the most have been integrating social activities into my routine that fill my cup (yoga class, tea ceremonies, frequenting my favorite cafes) and also shrinking away from my social media presence. I also have intentionally chosen to not own a television (I have a projector for when I want to host movie nights with friends). When I let go of "performing myself" on social media, I found that I started actually just BEING myself. I noticed that I started having more energy, and began feeling more inspired to spend more and more of my "free time" dedicated to furthering my spiritual and social well-being and growth, instead of feeling called to scroll or turn numbly inward. It is not an easy shift, but it feels really good to be as far away from "auto-pilot" as I can reasonably be. I also absolutely love what Dani wrote about being focused yet unpressured and without a sense of obligation. That resonates so much.
Perfect topic for a Friday afternoon. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Hope it's not "meh."
I know how to make my leisure time "work" well for me. Irony intended. I see others who are close to me, however, struggle to make their leisure time work well for them. Your essay gave me a few new ways to talk about the subject, so certainly I found your writing far more growth than meh.