I have a friend who has said to me on multiple occasions that I’ve got too much time on my hands. In those moments it came across as an insult, but I’m choosing to see it as a compliment. Hooray for me for not feeling like I’m running out of time in the day. Hooray for me for being able to make the choice to do things I enjoy.
In our fast-paced world, we do wear busyness like a badge of honour. I’ve been a busyness addict myself at various points in my life. It’s taken me lots of re-training and re-wiring to get to a point where I’m okay with idle time.
When I did a brief year studying leisure in university, I learned that idle time was most valued in ancient Greece; contemplation was seen as a valuable way to spend one’s time, a form of re-creation. This is how the word recreation came to be; we spend time to re-create ourselves so that we can enter back into the world new and fresh.
I did some contemplating and re-creating yesterday, on my rest day. As many might find, January tends to be a quiet month after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. People stop spending money for a little while, retreat into their homes and recover from the spending and indulging. This is the first time in a very long time, that I look at my calendar and see each weekend of the month completely white. The minimalistic look of white space makes me happy, while the busy look of cluttered space and busy schedules makes me tense. As I sat on the couch, sipping my morning cappuccino in front of the fire, I reflected in my journal:
Now that I’m not working multiple jobs, our wedding has come and gone, and our social commitments are much less than they’ve ever been, life feels quiet. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think it’s good. I want it to be good. But our world doesn’t see it that way. Every now and again I think, “shouldn’t I be doing something?” Is it a good thing to be so idle? Is boredom a breeder of bad habits like overeating, too much screen time, or inactivity? Or is it a way to learn the importance and value of white noise, white space, and going without?
There was a time in my past when this feeling of idle time would make me feel uneasy. Exactly in that moment is when I’d start to count my money (or my debt) and decide I needed another job. Now I’m using this time to evaluate my physical possessions as I learn to become a curator of my home. I’m evaluating how I want to feel and what activity would lead to my own healing. I’m evaluating where my money is going and how I can feel better financially. These are all great things. It’s a good time to live slowly and purposefully and to set myself up for times when life might be less simple.
In that moment of wonder, yesterday on my couch, I realized that the person who chased busyness and more jobs in an effort to get out of debt is not who I am anymore. Yes, sure, I’d like some more financial security, but I have enough, and isn’t enough, enough?
I have enough time. I have enough money. I have enough (= too much) stuff. Now I need to stop wishing for something more, stop busying myself with unnecessary things, and actually enjoy it. And I have no need to feel uneasy if I have some time to just re-create and be.
So the answer to my question is no, there is no such thing as too much time. It’s a matter of what we choose to do with it that matters.
And so it is.
If you are interested in creating more time in your life, or figuring out what to do with your time, please contact me to see how we can work together.
Because together, we rise.