On first words and wasting time.

My Grandmother used to tell me that my first word was “antibacterial”. Those of you who know me well may actually believe that. I know I do.

My mother used to tell me my first word should have been “procrastination”. Those of you who know me well…. really well…. might agree.

Recently I attended an event that came with a little goodie bag. In it was a cute little desk calendar, which my daughter liked so much she set it up in our bathroom. Each month has a beautifully typeset message exhorting me to do certain things. This month the message is  “Don’t waste time.”

graphic by Jennifer Taylor, vividity photography

I think I disagree with little Mr. July. What’s wrong with wasting time?

Now I’m certainly not suggesting that everybody should just loaf around all day and never get anything done. Not at all. And if I had a dollar for every time I’ve told my children to hurry up (often closely followed by the words ‘shoes’ and ‘socks’, or ‘into’ and ‘bed’) I’d be a wealthy woman indeed. But I really do think a little time-wasting now and then is good for us. So, instead of “don’t waste time” I would rather the calendar said something like “Log out of Facebook, put down that iPad, get your work done and then go hang around doing nothing much for a while. It’s good for you.”

A better way to waste time. Sydney portrait photographer Jennifer Taylor, vividity.

It’s in those moments of having nothing to do, no urgent pressing demands, nowhere you have to be that we have a chance to truly relax, to recharge and let go of that low-level stress that we so often carry around with us. And if you can share those moments with your kids, that’s even better, because then they have a chance of remembering those moments when they grow up and feel the rush rush hurry up pressure we put on ourselves in the world of work, kids, traffic and seemingly constant demands for instant solutions to everything. They may not remember each and every moment, I guess, but I hope that my kids will have some kind of almost visceral memory of those times… a kind of ‘Ah…. that’s better” feeling when they return to doing nothing for a while.

And it’s those moments of nothing, no pressure, nowhere to be, nothing to do, those moments of genuine relaxation that we have our best ideas, too.

So, off you go. Get your work done. Take care of the essential chores. Then log out. Shut down. And go waste some time.

love,
Jen

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