Reading a local community paper the other day, and an Op-Ed piece was berating its readers for someone outside the community doing what they thought someone within the community should have been done. I thought a little appreciation for someone doing this thing at all seemed the right response.
Y'know how much we are all doing, all the time. And you think it's a shame we're not doing more? Seriously. We are expected to be smart about finances, health, investments, work, insurance, automotive concerns, fashion, home repairs, technology, child care, self improvement, etc., and are encouraged every day by all sorts of experts to take ownership of and responsibility for all of these things. As if somehow simply tending to everyday concerns doesn't already fill our time to overflowing.
I watched Jodhaa Akbar, a movie about the great Mogul King Akbar, set in the 1500s in India. And I loved the movie for so many reasons, but most of all because it reminded me of a time when art and music and dance elevated everyday life. Now they are what you see in performances or recitals or in galleries, but once upon a time, you sang while you worked, and communities danced together, and holidays weren't just the 24 hours in which you crammed all your travel and pleasure.
So, back off op-ed dude. Stop pushing people to do and be even more, when we don't have the time or resources to elevate our own lives, to make who we are and how we live into works of art.
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1 comment:
Ah, the great irony of the 21st century. So much wealth, so much technology, so much efficiency -- all this to supposedly free us to enjoy the extra time if affords us. But none of us seem to know how to slow down and enjoy that time. We just fill it up with more doing!
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