This morning at around 5:00ish, I finished up reading Patricia Hampl’s book The Art of the Wasted Life. Thanks to Euan Semple for the prompt that got me downloading this book.
What a wonderful book that celebrated solitude – getting and keeping that space that allows us to be by ourselves and our thoughts. I created the video review of the book later this morning so you can see what I thought of it.
The pandemic and the lockdowns have basically ‘switched’ something in my head when it comes to the concept of the ‘wasted’ day. After all, we had plenty of them during our lockdowns.
I use the quotation marks because I don’t see them as wasted anymore. I used to. Not anymore.
I have Melbourne’s lockdowns to thank for that. This time in my life 2020 but particularly 2021 were years where I had a complete re-evaluation in my life. The pandemic, the state of the world at the precipice of destruction, fires, floods, okay, even menopause had a mental transformation – maybe my spiritual awakening of 2022 realising that everything that was important to me workwise is not anymore, in fact, I care little for it as a driver in my life anymore.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing either.
In fact, if anything, it’s inspiring for me because it means I’m not bound by my thinking anymore. I know that I have a lot of knowledge, experience, abilities to do anything I want now. Without guilt.
There is no should.
You’re given ONE life. Why would I sit around and worry about what people think about things like learning and development, communities, social learning, communities of practice or doing anything that others tell me I should be doing.
Bah. No way. No thanks.
I’d much rather spend my time enjoying the time I have left. Filling it up with new learning opportunities, new experiences and new people to meet. Being IN the communities that are supportive and nurturing, focused on local and global issues with people who GET them because they LIVE and ESPOUSE these attributes.
What I espoused about social learning and communities in the past, what I see now is that I can – and need to – apply these on a different level.
They cannot – nor will they ever fit – in the current business model many organisations are now moving to. It requires organisations to change their business model and new leaders to lead in different ways in order for these to work. Frankly, what I’m reading and seeing, I don’t think we are there yet (or if we are heading that way at all).
Why would I beat myself trying to change people and systems when they themselves don’t want change? Besides, I have this feeling that people are feeling vulnerable at the moment. Now’s not the time to bound in and make noise over things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Things that don’t have an impact for improving society.
What truly matters is health, home, family and community. That’s it.
These are the things I thought about on my ‘wasted’ days.
Boredom brought reflection. Over time it brought realisations. Now, I feel the next phase, will bring action – but I’m unsure what this will look like for me so I keep an open mind.
It means that I have now been thinking ahead about what I want – who I want – and don’t want in my life anymore.
A certain mental clearing of the decks for some wayward albatross to fly onto my deck and offer me the next opportunity in whatever form it will take. If it’s a talking albatross that wears a funny hat and points his wing tips towards the horizon, even better. (I have an overactive imagination).
So my days are not wasted anymore. They in fact, bring greater clarity of myself.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. I listened to it read by the author on Audible and it was excellent.
It was wonderful and so well written. I loved her revelation of the last sentence of the poem and how she got it wrong all these years. In some places it got me choked up when she recounted the dialogue with her husband. These moments are the moments that stay with us. I loved the blend of memoir, travelogue, poetry and she introduced me to Montaigne. I loved it and will suggest it as a book club book. Thank you for the prompt. If you find any other books like this, let me know.
I will now read What we Can Learn from French Literature.