As a kid, I thought it would be nifty to be a school bus driver. It seemed like the perfect job: drive around while working and go home with no paperwork to follow you. My dad often brought work home or had evening meetings, and my mom frequently spent home time thinking about her job or doing committee work. To me, I thought it would be nice to only have to worry about work while you're actually working. More time for fun that way.
Of course, realities change with age. Thankfully, I've managed to spend most of my working time without significant at-home commitments. Other than grad school, all my jobs have involved working while at work with only the rare evening spent concerned with tasks left un-done. I don't know if I can keep it up throughout my life, but it is quite nice to be off work and just enjoy my free time. I think of it as the ideal way to live.
So it is with pleasure that I read a novel idea for improving our economy and readjusting our thinking:
Why not start your weekend on Wednesday? In a nutshell, the author opines that our parents made half the amount we did and got along pretty well. So let's think about working less and enjoying life more. The crux of his argument is this: we can enjoy leisure without spending boatloads of money. We can have more vacation and more time to ourselves. We'd earn less, but we'd also spend less and perhaps even make more use of what we already own. A lot of the "wealth" our economy generates is wrapped up in making more stuff for each other so that we have a way to use our wealth.
I really like this idea, and I'd like to supplement it with a minimalist view of my own: instead of spending our current riches consuming stuff, maybe we should concentrate more on consuming experiences. My most contented vacation was three weeks spent in New Zealand during April/May of 2006. I bought next to nothing: a few postcards, some professional photos of my activities, and some local candy. I slept in a hostel (did I really need a big fancy room with a TV to encourage me to stay inside instead of enjoying the country?). Pretty much all my money was spent on getting out to enjoy the natural world. Caving was FAR more enjoyable than bringing back an All-Black mug or t-shirt (not that rugby isn't exciting, but still).
In my current job at the nature center, I work providing experiences to other people. They can come enjoy documentaries, snowshoeing, night hikes, trail walking, orienteering, and so much more. And one major thing we see is that it is really hit or miss whether or not people take advantage of what we offer. This weekend, a lot of families were in enjoying the building and indoor bird-watching spots, but few people took advantage of the free documentary screenings we offered. And one of the people who did come to the documentaries slept through half of one; I can't help but wonder if he was suffering from too much work and not enough leisure. At some point, not only does our work week take the 40 hours away from leisure. It also cuts into our other activities by keeping us too tired to fully enjoy what time we do have away from work.
My job here ends in a few months, and I'm searching for more work. I'm pretty open about what sort of job I do, as long as I can keep doing some combination of education and science. But one thought I continue to hold in my head is the dream of keeping my spare time for my own pursuits. And, of course, keeping my own pursuits in the "consumption of experiences" category is key. On that note, I'm going to take off to enjoy a musical at the local high school. Nothing like supporting your local community without having to take anything home but your memories.