Of all the obligations that capitalist culture imposes on us, that of permanent productivity seems to me to be one of the worst.
The mandate of success means that we do not disconnect from work.
We spend more time than we would like answering emails and messages believing that they will lead us to better opportunities and a better use of time.
But that promise is rarely kept.
In a time as fast-paced as ours, even free time has been colonized by the obligation to “be doing something.”
Watching series or movies, playing sports, going out to eat, spending hours in the early morning doomscrolling or comparing yourself (always to lose) with what your colleagues post on social networks, are just some of the activities we do every day and they involve an expense. of time, energy and money so that others can get rich.
If this worries us, the market has perfect solutions: an entire wellness industry is being built around the idea of taking advantage of free time for ourselves, as long as we are willing to pay the price.
Never in the history of humanity has the individual been placed so in the foreground: today it is not only an obligation to be well, but it is a personal responsibility.
The community has little to do with that mandate that says that if one is not happy it is because one does not try.
Depression or any emotional imbalance can at most be solved with a chemical: we are not allowed to be truly sad or happy.
Neither of the two things would be functional for the system.
It's just that the art of doing nothing is becoming increasingly difficult.
The American way, with its cult of practicality, dominates the scene, to the point that we no longer question it.
In the 19th century, voices were raised against this utilitarianism and in favor of a more serene life.
One of them was that of Robert L. Stevenson who, in addition to his adventure novels, wrote an essay in favor of leisure, thinking of it as a spiritual necessity.
In one passage he points out something terrible: the industrious always seem older and sadder than those who have mastered the art of inaction.
Stevenson thought that excessive activity wore down the body and mind.
The productive person, when he is not making money or working for success, does not know what to do, he says.
If a train leaves her stranded and she has to wait an hour, it is a catastrophe.
Since he doesn't know what to do with that time, he feels like he's wasting it, while those who master the art of doing nothing take advantage of it on a thousand mental trips and dreams.
Once at a meeting of friends someone launched the challenge: we had to name even one activity that we had done that week that would not have cost us a single peso.
Except for one romantic who said he had sat watching the sunset (the case didn't hold if he had a glass of wine in his hand), most had trouble finding his saving example.