And yet.
After observing people in restaurants, airports, and elsewhere, I actually think some people crave busyness. It’s as if they self-induce busyness in order to feel better about themselves. More valued. More important.
Maybe constantly being on the phone in public makes them feel like a big shot.
Maybe busyness numbs them from some pain they don’t want to deal with.
Maybe busyness serves as a convenient patsy for avoiding or postponing the hard and scary changes they need to make in their life.
Taking the drug called busyness is an effective way to feel engaged in life. But although it’s easier to stay busy than to slow down and make hard decisions about what kind of story you really want to live, the end result is not very satisfying.
If you’ve chosen busyness as a lifestyle choice — yes, Virginia, it’s a choice — more power to you.
Somewhere, Adultitis is smiling widely.
I agree. Busyness is an acceptable drug form. Thank you for saying it. It bothers me. I see it in myself. Sometimes it seems I’d rather be running around doing every chore imaginable then creating Legos castles with my child. I sit there thinking I should be DOING something. Brother. I annoy myself most often. When did I get too important to sit on the floor and connect with my child? or have a conversation with my spouse or friend? I was astonished when I last travelled to see how BUSY everyone was being attached to whatever was their electronic “Busy” drug of choice. I was sitting there watching my son and husband play games on the Ipod thinking, what ever happened to conversation, even with strangers? and then begins the thoughts of what is this world coming to?
It’s good to be reminded of these things. I struggle with it, too. It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but that’s where it gets ya. You wake up one day, look back on your life and wonder, “What was I so busy doing that I couldn’t take some time to sit with my toddler? Or go on more walks with my spouse? Or acknowledge a passing stranger with a smile?”
Busyness is one of Adultitis’s favorite tools.
Jason, Thanks again for posting on busyness. Though I usually see it more in those around me, I am guilty of it myself. I need to be reminded to SLOW DOWN. Listen to the birds. Looks at the sky – is that a elephant-shaped cloud over there? Busyness is a drug. . and only when we stop taking it do we notice the effects.
Here, here, Shirley!