Idle-free Hands

Men are ones that like to DO things.

This evening, as I was going about doing my normal household chores that I end the day with, I was thinking to myself, back to the days where I had less responsibilities but also had less purpose or enjoyment out of life.

These days, although my schedule is fucking insane, back-to-back all day every day with little breathing room or time away, one of the things I realized is that although it is stressful at times, and life is flying by faster than a speeding car, at the same time it is incredibly meaningful.

I think we for sure have a crisis of meaning and purpose in the world, particularly among young men, men that are just starting out or even the ones that are in their 30's and 40's. Gone are the days in which someone could start at a job when they were 20 or 21 and then work at that same job until they were 65 or older, and retire.

This has caused a lot of chaos in the fabric of society, but in some ways it's a good thing to shake things up and try to get people to grow, adapt and become better. I know that I am constantly looking to adapt and improve, even if it's a difficult thing to do, it's an important mechanism for growth.

I was actually alone with my thoughts tonight, meaning that I didn't have any music or podcasts going while I was doing my chores. I think that's an important thing because although I highly enjoy the music or podcasts, I also know that it is very important to also get quiet time for our brains to relax, process and think about things. Naturally mine thought about how I would much rather be puttering around than watching television.

It's funny because I think that it's akin to the shows where you see the dad messing around in the garage with the car or tools or something. I rarely watch TV, and even more rarely do I intentionally turn it on myself to find something to watch. Sure I could sit there and watch a movie or a TV show or something, but I find that I have far better things to do with my time than that.

This got me thinking that one of the things that's for sure important for men in particular is to be busy doing things. Idle hands are not a good thing in a lot of ways, and a lot of society's issues are caused by that. A lot of times there will be a fair bit of chaos when a bunch of teenage or 20 year old men don't have anything to do on a regular basis. There is bound to be mischief!

I wonder what the fix to that would be, though? Sure in my own sphere of influence I could think of some things to improve the time spent around me and how the people around me are doing things, but what about on a macro scale? That is a far harder nut to crack, because central planning never works!

I certainly don't have the answers to the bigger questions in life, but I think that on a local level, being able to stay busy is an important thing for me as I get older.

What about you, do you try to stay busy doing cleaning and other things when you aren't working? Or do you like to sit and watch TV instead? Let me know in the comments!