It's Important to Goof Off Sometimes!

                                         a peep cartoon from 2002....[she did morph in shape sometimes]


This is another lecture I made at my UU fellowship recently. It was nice to explore ideas outside of our culture's messages about work and life. The theme of the day was on relaxing and taking those peaceful moments in life. Three people approached me telling me they liked this little lecture. We each get 3-5 minutes, so it's short. It takes me longer to talk then write, so I usually have to shorten things down.

The irony of this speech is I had a doctor's appointment, helped husband with a doctor's appointment when I wasn't housebound,  moved--to escape mold from a plumbing issue--thank goodness for friends who helped--, taxes, a promised art project, a cellulitis infection, and more paper work compressed into the two weeks before I wrote it.
Idea of Success

To me, drudgery was just boring

And never gave me any meaning in life

I was the rat on the treadmill

But unlike the other rats

There was no tasty morsel waiting at the end of my maze

So I jumped off the spinning wheel

My brain just didn't work the same

It seemed so easy for the other girls

To keep their hair just so

All their emotions in check

It seemed to be me

Running my fingers through my hair 

Always wishing to be free.

Hipcrime Vocab--internet blogger:

"We have been reduced to productivist meat machines where anyone who does not continually contribute to the maximization of GDP [gross national/domestic product] must be ruthlessly cast aside as a mere speed bump on the highway to Singularity and Martian colonies"
 
Ever been called lazy? Ever been called a goof off? I have been. Being disabled in go-go work until you drop America isn't always easy. Some bodies can't keep up with the whirlwind around us.

I like sleeping. I like relaxing. Years ago I put my 60-95 hours a week in. When I look back, I wish someone had told me, "You need rest" and "Go to sleep"! Both would have helped me. Sleep deprivation did not help my health.

In America you always have to be progressing and working. Life has become all about status and competition. What happened to enjoying life? Isn't there more meaning to our lives then increasing profit for corporate masters? Yes, I know people need money to live but should economic productivity be the the height of everyone's value? That is how they do divide and conquer in this nation.

Ever be around people who brag about how little sleep they get? I think they are nuts. Give me a toasty morning in bed to sleep in. Then there's that word "LAZY". That's one of the most over used and abused words. I saw this study in 2016 that said being lazy can mean you are very intelligent. They concluded that the very smart people were more apt to get less bored and enjoyed just sitting around thinking and doing quiet solitary activities while the less smart ones, stayed more engaged in active activities. They of course warned about the health effects of a more sedentary life style.

Remember that guy in the Twilight Zone show who breaks his glasses, finally having time to read mountains of books? Well in my case, I read the books first and other came second like housework. I admit it.

Must we always live on the hamster wheel? Some of us jump off the hamster wheel or are forced off it and take a look at all the madness and realize we found things we were missing, time to think, time to create, time to just be and mellow out. Time to look at nature or meditate. Time to putter. Time to do nothing.

People need vacations, sleep, time to be alone, time to sleep in and to feel calm and relaxed. Our communities need people with free time too, to volunteer, help the homeless or even just talk to one another, so our society needs it too. Nobody on their deathbeds ever said, "I should have spent more time at the office or factory."

The austere and me rarely become best buddies. I came up short when it came to Calvinist work ethic demands. I didn't see life as endless to do lists but wanted to look at the clouds. I don't trust people who never goof off or tell me to eat oatmeal [I hate oatmeal] They like to make goof-offs and artists feel guilty and ashamed but they don't look too happy. They want even those with chronic fatigue with their noses to the grindstone.

I hate life being nothing but spinning clocks and moving goal posts. My best memories are of quiet relaxing moments, the days of hanging out in the park or looking at the butterflies. We are told we choose our destines and bootstraps but what about enjoying the here and now with those we love?

Play is not just for kids by the way. Take the nap. Your body and mind will thank you.

Here's some more quotes:

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time" : Betrand Russell

"No one should ever work, Workers of the world, Relax!": Bob Black

"There is only one lesson, life is trying to teach us, shut the [fuck] bleep up and enjoy the view": Charles Bukowski

and "Become someone who is and not just someone who does" Me.