Monday, October 3, 2011

What Would You Do If You Didn't Work?

10/3/11-what i'd do
Maybe I'd start a collection like this resident of Natchez, MS

In response to Mama Kat’s weekly writing prompt I spent the weekend thinking about 10 things I’d do if I didn’t work.  Now, whoa, wait a minute, some might say.  How can you make a list of things you would do if you didn’t work if you don’t actually have to get in the car and drive to an office to make someone else fabulously wealthy while you yourself are ground under the millstone of department productivity charts?  Well, point taken.

No, I no longer have to worry about the 9-5 life, but there is more than enough hopping to make me wish I had another three hours in my day.  I mean, it takes Herculean efforts to stay glued to the All-Law-and-Order-All-the-Time channel just in case a stray episode I haven’t see might be aired.  But since much that occupies my time now is stuff I make up to avoid doing the stuff I have to do, it’s worth contemplating what I’d do if I weren’t trying to avoid anything.

So what would I do if every hour of every day were wide open for me to decide how I wished to spend it?  The summer in France gave me an inkling of this kind of freedom.

Without further ado, here’s what I’d do:

10)  Make my computer files more organized than the Library of Congress. 

9)  I’d become fabulously toned, tanned, and athletic again.  Face it -- stress, chronic fatigue, and meals on the run take a bit of toll on the ol’ bod.

8)  See at least a dozen Keith Urban concerts a year with my KU friends across the U.S. (and, no, they’re not all the same; that’s what makes him such a great entertainer)

7)  I’d become fabulously fluent in a multitude of languages so that

6)  I would be ready to travel across the continent and the globe three or four times a year.

Photobucket

5)  Read when I’m not tired so I actually read in coherent chunks instead of in the five minutes I can muster before my eyes slam shut and the book crashes to the floor beside the bed.

4)  Learn to draw and use the manual settings on my camera.  Why not?  Art seems an endeavor that could keep me occupied for a lifetime.

3)  I’d definitely use the time to stop being the insufferable witch I become when I’m weighted down by all the things not on this little list and kept from doing what I really want to do.

2)  I would focus my mind intently on my writing, with the leisure to let ideas incubate, find the exact phrase instead of the almost-right one.  I’d have no more excuses for not getting words on paper.  And I could do it at 1 p.m. instead of 1 a.m. Preferably while drinking hot chocolate loaded with whipped cream while eating a pain au chocolat at a French café.

1)  In Edith Wharton’s masterpiece The Age of Innocence, her protagonist Newland Archer sits surrounded by family and friends chattering about all their duties and obligations for the day.  At one point another character asks him (I don’t quote exactly), “Well, Newland, how are you going to spend your time?”  Newland answers, “Oh I think I’ll just save it instead.”  The #1 thing I’d do if I didn’t work is nothing.  I don’t mean “nothing” in the sense of wasting it surfing the internet or updating my status.  No, I’d do nothing by strolling, letting my mind wander and contemplate, take time to watch, to see, sit, be in the moment.  I wouldn’t try to spend my capital of time.

I'd have more up close and personal time with guitar god Keith Urban
10/3/1-what I'd do2

Tell me, what would you do if you didn’t have to work?  Share it in the comments box.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this post! How is your writing doing?

Hugs!!

VacationBarbie said...

Um..yeah...all of the above, but you forgot to add the bit about "Unlimited funds" so we could do all of the above! LOL

Renee

Julie Farrar said...

Hey, Renee, the fact that I'd be tanned and athletic while drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream says I'm living in a dream world. So of course I'd be fully funded in all my endeavors.

Laura@Catharsis said...

What would I do if I didn't work? A whole hell of a lot more than I can get done now, that's for sure! I like your ideas, especially the one about being able to read a book for longer than five minutes before the eyeballs crust over and sleep suffocates me. Oh, and I would definitely focus my mind on writing as well. And spending precious time with my little ones. That comes first, of course.

By the way, I've given you a blog award because I like you so darn much. :-) http://www.findcatharsis.com/2011/10/its-peanut-butter-jelly-time-yall.html

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine not working. I like being a doc. I would like to work three days a week, bring in an easy $150,000, and write more, knit more, do more yard work.

Bella said...

Julie, I think the better question is, if I didn't have to work and actually had any money! In which case I would have to say I'd travel to the Amalfi Coast. Now that's what I call spending your free time in quality surroundings! Someday! I hope! :)

Anonymous said...

I love that picture! Wow! Seriously, if I didn't work, I'd have time during the day to read my blogs so I wasn't doing it right now when my eyes are drooping.

Stobby said...

I don't work (they won't give me a work permit) and I have to say that my mind looks a lot like that house. It's like entering a toy store....you want to do it all.

Barbara said...

Following KU does sound like a great way to spend some time!

Megan (Best of Fates) said...

Is it sad that now all I can think of is how fabulous it'd be to have organized computer files?

Yes?

Julie Farrar said...

Ah, Megan, I long to go away to a distant place and spend a week doing nothing but cleaning up my computer, no interruptions.

Self Sagacity said...

Those ten things are pretty inspiring. I's like to do some of those too.
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