The Gentle Prick of Irony

"Leisure is the basis of culture," is both often quoted, and the title of a book by Josef Pieper. Beginning a written work with a quote or generalization are taboo. So is referring to a book one has never read. I have just done all three.

I have noticed my blog has been lacking (that dreaded word). I have also noticed how little time I spend eating, sleeping, drinking, and thinking. Perhaps there is some correlation, but alas, I am no doctor, psychologist, or detective to go about drawing conclusions. I digress. It took me a while to notice all of the above, which seemed to drive home the opening quote at a far more substantial level. Not only is leisure the basis of culture, but leisure is the foundation for humanity (another generalization if you are counting).

When I say humanity, I don't mean upright, sparsely haired (perhaps in some more than others) primates. I mean humanity in the distinguishing sense: the humanities if you will (which I assume you will, if you are reading this). Humans did something no other species did. We brought our food to us and made it stay there. That gave us free time to think, kill each other, then think about why we kill each other. For other animal, the ends of that sequence are lopped off like so many heads...of wheat, which is why we are having this (or any) conversation (or soliloquy). 

This free time is why philosophy was an act of the aristocracy with the ancients and why you don't encounter many philosophers in war zones. While I have never been either of those, I like to think I fall somewhere between. I am in a first world country and have only gone to war with my noisy neighbors (If the Persians were as inconsiderate as these guys, Thermopile would have been the end of the war) and the fourth wall. That is probably why I write blogs and not books though. 

At any rate, this was a long introduction to get to a short point. I will be starting a little sub blog about how leisure really is important. Some of the topics I hope to explore are as follows (read: I am writing them here so I remember later):

What does leisure look like? (This seems especially important for those of us who haven't seen it in a while).

Does undergraduate education support the growth of philosophy and culture?

Is being busy easier than having free time?

Do we value leisure?

When asked to think about the most beautiful thing imaginable in class the other day, it took me a while to think of it. I was coming up blank. That's when I realized, maybe I just really love silence. I'm not sure if the silence in my head meant I had the answer all along, or if it had been so long since I hear the sound of silence (copyright Simon and Garfunkel) that I didn't recognize it. The irony struck when we never came back around to me to share. Double that irony in my desire to speak about silence, then raise it a power for my writing about it, and you get the title.

If you made it this far, congratulations. The posts to follow will have more content. 

Cheers,

Bryant

P.S: Garfunkel was suggested in the spellcheck. Someone had some free time.