Friday, February 17, 2006
Are You Too Busy to Read This?
The concepts of time and busyness have been taking up my mental space lately. Not all of my mental space mind you but, it's fair to say that a good chunk of it is in use. I am not a busy person. There. I said it. And...it's true. Really. I'm not. I do things. Quite a number of things really. I'm just not busy. You see, if I want to take the time to read a book, I do. If I want to take the time to make cookies I will. If I want to add to this blog, I will. I don't feel rushed. Nor do I feel run off my feet. I'm rarely late for things but, if I am, it's never really a big deal. I understand my responsibilities--to myself and those around me--and do my darnedest to see them through but, I also realize that I really can't control things. Things like kids who adamently don't want to put on their boots or, idiocyncracies of the weather. I am, however, beginning to feel a bit left out. Looking around me, I witness people rushing back and forth and, when they actually stop to converse (no time for a real conversation) the first words they utter are often along the lines of 'I'm just sooooo busy' or 'I am running out of time.' I guess we are all 'running out of time' but, some people just appear to be running a whole lot faster. This, to me, is strange. So, I wonder if being busy is seen as some form of status symbol? The busier one is, the higher up on the evolutionary ladder? Has the concept of busyness replaced honest to goodness work ethic? Could there be more than just an aural/visual link between the words business and busyness? Is there a corporate conspiracy taking place here? I see university students on a daily basis. For the past couple years I have noticed that they are increasingly 'busy.' Unfortunately, this 'busyness' has not really translated into productivity. I think back to my undergrad years. I had about 4 part-time jobs, a full course load with a decent average and yet, I seemed to have a lot of time for reading and playing pool. I don't really remember feeling all that busy then either. Perhaps, I am not really alone. Perhaps busyness is being used as an excuse. People aren't really all that busy. They would just prefer to be doing something else so they cite busyness as a reason for not doing something. That so and so didn't call back wasn't that they were too busy, it was, instead because they prefered to be doing something else at that time. Busyness might be used as an excuse to not offend or hurt someone's feelings. Concurrently, busyness might be used as a tool to foster a sense of greater importance: 'I'm too busy to be wasting my time standing in this line.' Perhaps a sense of martyrship might also explain this phenomenon: 'I'm extremely busy right now but, I'll do this thing that you ask even though it pains me to add to my already great burden.' Now, I understand that there are times when one's plate is full. There are times when there is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. There are, however, always choices (ok...maybe not always but surely most times there are choices?). We can't do more than we can do. We can't be other than who we are. Maybe it's time for a bit more acceptance and a little less busyness.
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2 comments:
Food for thought, as usual -- thanks.
It's the time-stealers. I know exactly what you mean, and I feel "busy" all the time. I'd rather do my projects (whatever they are) than sleep and I would rather be happy and running around and chasing causes (not humanitarian, as I am selfish) than at the office. And it always, always makes me think of the book, which I know as "Momo and the Time Stealers" but has other titles in translation from the German. It was written by Michael Ende of "Neverending Story Fame" (remember that green and red-ink copy I have?) And here is the plot:
Plot: The main character, Momo, is an orphaned girl with a miraculous ability to listen. The story takes place in an Italian(?) city, which is laced about with ancient ruins, and modern-day poverty-stricken homes. Then the gray men infiltrate the city... they are people who "know time like leeches know blood." And by their influence, the quiet old city is transformed into an urban nightmare full of people who miserably hurry everywhere. Momo is the only person of all who is immune to the men in gray, and so it's up to her to stop them.
This book is awestriking, deeply philosophical, and it's more important for grown-ups to read it than children. It's a social commentary about how our negative perception of time is destroying our society, robbing us of our happiness, and skewing our values of what is really important in life. The heroine has to fight back with a positive perception of time in order to repair the damage done. Some parts of the book are very frightening, and this is because that the same time they're very much imaginary, they are also real at the same time... at the same time as being something you never have and never will encounter, they are things that you have encountered many times and know it, just like everybody else in the world; you'd have to read the book to see what I'm getting at there. No, it's not even a magic thing.
It is a magic thing really (I didn't write the summary, just copied it from Amazon). The magic is in the fact that we don't see that time is a precious resource, but only when we USE it to be HAPPY and make other people HAPPY and read books and make cookies with kids and occassionally, do something rotten like get smashed on pretty decent red wine in a bar even though our husband/partner/babysitter is sitting around balancing the household accounts. Or dancing on tables in restaurants, or falling into the sea just for the hell of it.
You stick to your watch; keep a litte Momo deep inside.
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