I wonder
I wonder what it is that people find to be important in their lives. I think when you procreate, there seems to be some built-in focus there. While watching my niece this past week, all of my self-absorption—a default setting—seemed to have melted away (at least temporarily). Maybe of greater importance is not what others find to be important but rather, how it is they find it. What if all you really want is leisure and even Harry Potter films on repeat?
I’ve added, ‘Help three strangers per week’ to the remote 30- day challenge I’m running this month with a handful of friends. When I was at Publix this week, I helped a woman with an overflowing shopping cart over a concrete bump in the parking lot. All of my so-called aid lasted as long as it took me to lift the other end of the cart. So roughly two seconds. And yet, that’s the most of I’ve helped a stranger in some time. I’m nice enough to strangers I’d suspect but not necessarily in my mind. For instance, at Costco this past week, a place I’ve avoided all of my life and only go to reluctantly when dragged, I was observing not only my own selfish desire for space and comfort but extraordinary irritability and impatience from all of the other Costco-goers, including the family member who dragged me there.
I’ve got an abundance of activities that I tend to each day, all of which have nothing to do with money-making. None of them considers assets, investments, nor revenue. There’s a passage I’ve just read in A Year in Marrakesh by Peter Mayne:
“How can I make money and yet continue to live? That is my problem. Living means leisure and leisure is exactly what a job denies you. Moors know this and pop in and out of jobs as their stomachs are empty or full; but I am still a long way from reaching that happy state. They don't care what happens and are satisfied in any case that God will determine their futures as He pleases. So they don't have to strive for success, and this is what makes living amongst them such a wonderful relief…I have so little talent for money that I shall never make a success of it. You need talent for it, just as you need talent for painting or music or writing. Just a little bit of the feu sacré you have to have, to love money and make it.”
Yes, living means leisure. Prioritizing non-monetary pursuits, while seemingly a position of privilege (and sure, there’s that too), I believe developed as a result of choosing to focus instead on community-building, personal growth, and forms of life simplicity. But then what of all of these alleged passions some people seem to have either achieved or are reaching for in their vocations?
My father asked me this morning, “What’s on your agenda for the day?” To which I replied, “Writing, workout, meditation, morning walk, guitar, nap, some cooking here and there, train someone this evening, fly fishing, followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” A life of (nearly) absolute leisure. All that I’ve aimed for in life—a handful of hours of work per week and otherwise, recreation. With all of this leisure, it’s useful to consider schemes for producing a profit. However, it’s also just as useful to catch up on the Harry Potter films. I’m two decades too late but that’s just fine with me.