spending time

[einride]

i've been in mildly heated discussions about this sort of thing with some of my friends. the "single life" thread got me thinking a little bit more about it.

do you find it difficult to find worthwhile things to do with your time if you're alone, no girlfriend, no job, no school, no obligations? are you easily bored? can you think of exciting things to do every day by yourself or do you actually prefer to kill 8 hours a day by working?

i said to some buddies that if i was promised $1500 or so a month for the rest of my life with the condition that i could never work again, i would take that offer hands down, because i REALLY ENJOY being alone and doing random things. everyone else was like "no, life is boring if you don't work, all i do with my time if i have no obligations is play world of warcraft/watch tv/masturbate"

do you need to be a creative/artsy/slacker sort of individual to find the notion of having your time to yourself very attractive? i'd walk around randomly and take pictures of nothing, listen to a bunch of music and record some music, read a boatload of books, honestly there's NO END to the things i would do if i had infinite time. every hour of pointless work fucking TORMENTS me.

Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages. To begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day without the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people, when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently pleasant to be worth doing. And whatever they decide on, they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been pleasanter. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilisation, and at present very few people have reached this level.

sorry mr. russell, i generally like you, but i just don't understand this. i guess i'm one of the few that has reached the highest level of civilized life?



wow this is not a coherent text

 

[Crimson Velvet]

Man, I would jump on that offer soooo fast!

I'd spend all my days skiing, fishing, drinking and reading, and I would be HAPPY.

Asserting that a day would be "more boring" if one couldn't work just makes NO SENSE to me AT ALL. Work is, essentially, the most boring thing I do, and I can't envision that ever changing. So yeah, I guess this is one time when I just don't get Mr. Russell either.

 

[Conspicuously Absent]

I'd be all over that as well, the only downside being an inability to do certain things based on the income (vacations / my expensive hobby). Otherwise as above: skiing, fishing, drinking, reading, listening to music, enjoying nature and such shit would be awesome, and there would be no need to go anywhere near a city except for gathering food.

 

[Reign in Acai]

Work drains every fiber of my being. My last job wasn't as bad, as I could simply put my headphones on for 8 hours a day and drown out the world. Currently, I'm stuck in a cesspit where the only method of staying awake (graveyard hours) is to conduct conversation with people that I wouldn't give two shits to speak to in my personal time. The majority of which is paper thin discourse (video games, hot actresses, which group of negars won the game). My job for the most part consists of monitoring a panel of alarms, which rarely go off. There is absolutely no toil and no reward to coincide with the time being spent. I find more value in days such as today, which primarily consisted of listening to music, than from any job that I have ever labored. Though, I'm sure there are jobs that provide a rewarding experience. (Doctor, Peace Officer, Prosecutor) But at what cost? Typically these jobs entrench themselves deep in to your psyche and shift your energies away from everything you once held dear and knew about yourself. Essentially creating a new character. If you're a directionless juvenile with no foundation to who you are as a person, this can be seen as a positive. But what if you're comfortable with who you are, and have "found" your inner sanctum. Then the scenario becomes one straight from Revolutionary Road. We're fettered for 47 years until we've horded enough acorns to enjoy the snow in the woods, by which time it's too cold for our brittle bones.

 

[Hell Mike]

First of all: is "pleasanter" a word?

Second: The idea is nice, but there's no way in fuckhell I'll live all alone ever again for more than just a short while unless something undescribably shitty happens, but not having to work and all of that sounds very very nice indeed. Thing is, I/we really need the income and I don't really mind work/the concept of it all, but as everyone else I hate my job every now and then, especially every day until 10am and after 3pm.

Also, having tried this a week here and there, I don't think I'd be as active as I should - I'm good at (and like) just sitting naked while listening to heavy metal and reading Conan comics on the computer a lot more than I really want to, knowing how much I enjoy actually doing stuff. I'm also very well aware of the fact that I (and many others) don't appreciate free time (or anything else for that matter) if I don't have something to compare it to - I never really enjoyed weekends until I started slaving the weeks away. It was just a few days when everyone else also got drunk.

Also; don't you remember being in pretty much that situation? What will motivate you to spend your time more wisely if you get another shot?

 

[einride]

First of all: is "pleasanter" a word?

yes, but a fairly ugly one

Second: The idea is nice, but there's no way in fuckhell I'll live all alone ever again for more than just a short while unless something undescribably shitty happens, but not having to work and all of that sounds very very nice indeed. Thing is, I/we really need the income and I don't really mind work/the concept of it all, but as everyone else I hate my job every now and then, especially every day until 10am and after 3pm.

the question was not "do you think work sucks" because almost everyone thinks work sucks. the point is that some people go "well, you know, work sucks, but at least it's something to do" and i VOMIT not only upon the HOLY CROSS but also upon viewpoints like this.

Also, having tried this a week here and there, I don't think I'd be as active as I should - I'm good at (and like) just sitting naked while listening to heavy metal and reading Conan comics on the computer a lot more than I really want to, knowing how much I enjoy actually doing stuff.

so what kind of stuff would you want to do in utopialand then, assuming you had some self control? is there enough to fill your day without even particularly trying? that's what the question is about.

I'm also very well aware of the fact that I (and many others) don't appreciate free time (or anything else for that matter) if I don't have something to compare it to - I never really enjoyed weekends until I started slaving the weeks away. It was just a few days when everyone else also got drunk.

this holds some truth but i'd rather have seven mediocre-to-good days than five horrible and pointless days, one great day (saturday) and one day of laziness mixed with dread and anxiety for tomorrow (sunday).

Also; don't you remember being in pretty much that situation? What will motivate you to spend your time more wisely if you get another shot?

well first of all, no-one is going to step up and offer me $1500 a month for doing nothing so this is purely conjecture, but IF someone did TODAY all i need to do is cancel my internet again and suddenly i keep doing creative things, or at least things that point in the general direction of self-realization.

i know a lot more about myself now than i did two or three years ago when, even if i didn't "have" to work, i was pretty profoundly unhappy. i went through some therapy and gay shit like that and at this point i'm very comfortable with myself and i know what i need to do to increase my happiness. problem is i won't get to where i'm going as long as i work 8 hours a day with some stupid bullshit noone cares about.

 

[Krilons Resa]

lol @ erik's threads lately

The key is not to differentiate work from play.

 

[einride]

lol @ erik's threads lately

i'm increasing the quality of this here forum by a factor of at least 3.14159265

 

[Hell Mike]

The key is not to differentiate work from play.

Other way around in my opinion; the key is to, when you've finished your work day, just let it fucking go. When I get home from work, I take of my work jacket and shirt and look like good ole hell mike motörbike, and that symbolical rite of passage is more valuable than one might acknowledge at first. A sharp line between work and play.

the question was not "do you think work sucks" because almost everyone thinks work sucks. the point is that some people go "well, you know, work sucks, but at least it's something to do" and i VOMIT not only upon the HOLY CROSS but also upon viewpoints like this.

My work is quite satisfying, not because we actually do something worthwile (which is a highly subjective matter btw) since noone would care if the company I work at went up in flames (Except for us who get our paychecks from there etc but that's irrelevant) but because what I do is important to the people surrounding me there and the work we do, and I'm good at it and it's appreciated. Just the feeling of being good at what takes 8 hours of your day every day and getting proper appreciation for it is nice.

so what kind of stuff would you want to do in utopialand then, assuming you had some self control? is there enough to fill your day without even particularly trying? that's what the question is about.

Spend time with people I like, walk around in forests, drive things faster than what is safe, rock out with my cock out, chill out with my willy out... Stuff like that. Learn fuckloads of stuff, maybe most of all. I've always liked learning but when the brain gets tired from other shit, it just never gets done. I seriously can't rebember when I last had nothing to do - the days just aren't long enough, and this goes for the weeks off I've had when Dis was born, my vacations and stuff like that as well as regular work days. The naked metaling conan reading was always by choice - the very same time could have been better spent though.

this holds some truth but i'd rather have seven mediocre-to-good days than five horrible and pointless days, one great day (saturday) and one day of laziness mixed with dread and anxiety for tomorrow (sunday).

Absolutely, but I don't find those five days horrible and pointless, even if they are jobbiga. And they're nowhere near the days off - which for me now include friday, w00t.

 

[lurch70]

I think "earning the right" to do all your favorite pastimes and just chill wouldn't be as satisfying if there was no work to unwind from ...

unless your job IS your pastime/hobby ... then life just rules.

 

[Hell Mike]

unless your job IS your pastime/hobby ... then life just rules.

Yeah, as long as you make sure your pastime/hobby isn't your job...

What I mean is, be careful so you don't drain all that which is good from what is good by making it a must instead of a want

 

[einride]

I think "earning the right" to do all your favorite pastimes

i hate the word "pastime". i do not engage in "pastimes", i do things that are worthwhile. i also hate the notion that you somehow should have to "earn the right" to do the things you want to do with your life

 

[lurch70]

i don't mean earning the right from the man ... but rather from within.

i love biking ... but I think if I biked all the time i'd be pretty damn sick of it darn quick.

life should be a rollercoaster. if you are always in chill mode or stress mode ... its shit either way.

when we get together with friends on weekends and think of what to do make our life easier, we always come to the conclusion that ultimately we just want to
end up doing what we are doing at the time of the conversation ... which is hang out and drink and have good company ... but it would not be as satisfying if
we were always doing that.

 

[Hell Mike]

i hate the word "pastime". i do not engage in "pastimes", i do things that are worthwhile. i also hate the notion that you somehow should have to "earn the right" to do the things you want to do with your life

Agreed! "pastimes" and "earn the right (by boring work)" is oppressive slavery regime mindset.
You don't work hard to earn the right to pass time between work shifts, you work hard to afford to live your life as you wish.

That said, I don't think lurch really meant anything more than that you don't appreciate dicking around unless you've done shit before dicking around

edit:

but it would not be as satisfying if
we were always doing that.

yeah, that

 

[lurch70]

That said, I don't think lurch really meant anything more than that you don't appreciate dicking around unless you've done shit before dicking around

.

exactly

its all best summed up by the scene in The Shawshank Redemption where they get to tar the roof and have a beer in the sun afterwards ...

 

[einride]

i don't think you guys know where i'm coming from.

i'm not talking about "dicking around" -- i'm talking about doing the only things that seem MEANINGFUL to me -- i.e. my actual LIFE -- which is not to be found within the four walls of nine to five drudgery, but that is ALSO beside the point of this thread. the question is still: do you think you have enough purpose in life without work that you could live without it and not be bored? i interpret both of you as saying "no" because you seem to think that spare time is wasted time, even if enjoyable.

 

[swizzlenuts]

So you're telling me I should not get my PhD and open a brew pub?


I must be a masochist because I actually like what I'm studying right now, and don't feel like stopping my degree.

 

[einride]

So you're telling me I should not get my PhD and open a brew pub?


I must be a masochist because I actually like what I'm studying right now, and don't feel like stopping my degree.

i don't recall saying "hey you know what, you should feel like i do about everything"

i'm asking

thanks for replying

 

[swizzlenuts]

I was more directly talking to Lurch, about the hobby/job thing.

I think you scenario of $1,500 a month sounds like it'd rule, but I don't think it'd work for me. The best is if you could just work at a pub or something just to have a little extra fun.

 

[lurch70]

So you're telling me I should not get my PhD and open a brew pub?


I must be a masochist because I actually like what I'm studying right now, and don't feel like stopping my degree.

you got that from what I wrote? ... no fucking way dude

as long as you enjoy anything in life ... fucking do it ... no matter how others see it.

work should bring you satisfaction and make you feel good (granted for 85% of people it does not)