The Pursuit of Pleasant Pastimes

Often we complain about being busy, and certainly at times we are too busy sometimes at essential things and sometimes at nonessential things. And because we are so busy, we may sometimes wish for inactivity, even for idleness; we may wish for the leisure to pursue what have come to be called pleasant pastimes. But before we sever ourselves from definite assignments, before we turn away from work, before we disengage ourselves from real responsibility, we should take a realistic look at what are sometimes called pleasant pastimes.

There are times for all of us when leisure is essential, for rest and refreshment. And there may be times when even the avid pursuit of pleasure seems attractive on the surface. But actually people sometimes pursue amusement and synthetic pleasure to the point where it is more work than work is. And sometimes it seems that a considerable part of the people are working at relieving the boredom of another considerable part of the people who are bored because they aren’t working.

Why this great effort anyway to pass time? As the poet said, so each of us could say: “O time too swift! O swiftness never ceasing!”a swiftness ever swifter, at whatever age we are. And some of the so-called pastimes and synthetic pursuits only press us faster along a road which already we scarcely seem to sample before we leave the years breathlessly behind. From now till next week will seem in its shortness almost as if it were tomorrow morning. And it seems ironical that men should so persistently pursue the so-called pastimes when time, which is the essence of all our opportunities, is already running a race which it always wins, without any synthetic assistance.

And as to pressure, as to being busy: it is so much better than not being busy that we may well be grateful for the urgency that presses us into constructive pursuits.