Don’t Postpone Living
Goals are admirable, but be mindful of the cost’s
“There can be no value in the whole unless there is value in the parts”- Bertrand Russell
Picture the scene: I am sat in the garden, doodling as carelessly as a child- lost in the activity, immersed in a state of flow, when suddenly I’m wrenched back to reality by a voice in my head: “where is this getting you?”, “What’s the end goal?”, “Why are you drawing a shaky lined house when you could be writing an article?” All of these thoughts boil down to this simple belief: Time is finite, and should be used appropriately to achieve some greater goal. And what does greater goal mean? For a graduate in his mum’s backroom, it means financial remuneration. I often get this guilt at leisure that doesn’t further my career, or activities that won’t pay me back financially in the long run; activities that objectively might be deemed “pointless”. As a graduate, stuck at home and feeling as if I am in limbo, I have fallen into this trap of believing that everything other than work towards my goals is wasted time. Feeling like a hiker trapped in a ravine, thinking it would be silly to paint when I should be escaping.
Many do this; they accept a life of all work and no play- full Jack Nicholson- believing that it will be given value by some future success. Indeed, this mindset is endemic among young professionals, eager to jump headfirst into a career and forge a future; our mindset often becomes utilitarian, meaning very few activities are enjoyed in and off themselves. Whilst there is a balance to be struck- all play is no good thing- we should certainly be on guard against the extremity of thought that demands all activities to pay us back in some way. Doodling- very badly I must confess- will not serve me financially, but it paid in a moment’s respite from the daily slug, and that’s worthwhile. Moreover, to get high minded, surely that’s what makes us human; hunter gatherers had no survival reason to paint or imprint their hands on the walls, and yet they did it. Why? C.S Lewis once said of friendship, that “like philosophy, like art… it has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things that gives value to survival.” Young graduates, feeling desperate to start a career, might also do well to depart from a Darwinian mindset.
Developing this feeling, it’s easy to feel like life doesn’t start until you get some dream job or achieve your graduate goals, and then to feel like every waking hour should be committed to achieving that in the meantime. This attitude is best summed up in the adage “Short term pain for long term gain”. Whilst this might work in regards to a workout, I don’t think it translates brilliantly over to work. For starters, what is considered short? When it comes to our goals, we can’t put a date on their realisation. We might toil for years- at the expense of enjoyable but non paying fun- telling ourselves that we can make up for lost time later on. I’m inclined to think that there comes a point where you have to ask; whilst I want to achieve success quickly, at what cost will it be at? In your head, you believe that you can relax once the goal is achieved- but this mindset is an unhealthy and unsustainable one, and enjoyment of the present moment is often the price paid.
In short, life is what happens when you are making plans, and you should never wait to live so to speak. Sometimes, it’s important to do something because it’s intrinsically enjoyable. Don’t be a “realist”, or write off the innate urge to just play because you don’t think it contributes to your future. Whilst it’s perfectly healthy to worry about the future, don’t forget about the present too. A goal achieved by pure sacrifice will lack the value of one you enjoyed achieving along the way. I defer back to Bertrand Russell on this point: “Success can only be one ingredient in happiness, and is too dearly purchased if all the other ingredients have been sacrificed to obtain it”. In other words, I’m off to doodle, I hope you will join me.
