a Sunday drive

 How much of our time is uneventful. This is never so evident as when you write. It doesn't matter much if you are just writing a postcard or a biography. The vast majority of our time is expended just doing the mundane. The daily norm. I expect it is much the same whether you are extremely wealthy or living on the street, the routine. Routines can become boring and we seek an escape. Trying something new, going somewhere, doing something, anything to break up the monotony. But I think a great deal of that depends upon how much you enjoy your own company. Can you entertain yourself? 

 The answer to that last question is dependent upon one thing. Does your personal entertainment require an audience, a validation? What I mean is, how much of what you do is done solely to satisfy yourself? Those activities would include things like reading a book. For most of us reading a book is done for singular entertainment. We may enjoy telling others about the story, about what we read, but we read for ourselves. There are some that keep a diary, today we call them journals. That's an entertainment that isn't normally shared. 

 I was reminded of all that when watching the movie Gladiator. You know the part where he says, " are you entertained "  as he stares at the crowd. The irony being the crowd finds entertainment watching him kill others. A population demanding to be entertained. Not much has changed since those days with the exception we don't stage fights to the death. But we certainly stage enough entertainment for the masses. So much so the " entertainers " have gained as much influence as those by-gone gladiators. Entertain me enough and I will submit to you, give you leeway to do as you please. I will even glorify you. A recent example is that football player Garrett. He swings a helmet directly down and with considerable force towards an opponents head. The intent is clear! Yet there are those attempting to justify his actions by saying, it wasn't that bad. He was playing a sport and emotions get heated. Yes, but shouldn't we remember one thing? It's a game! Would that be okay on the playground at elementary school? I don't believe anyone would support that action. Is your entertainment that important to you? Important enough to sacrifice a life?

 But as frequently happens with me I have wandered off the topic I began with. I was talking about how most of our tine is uneventful. What we tend to remember are the events in our lives. Special occasions, happenings good and bad. But they are just moments when compared to the whole. That's why we are encouraged to enjoy the moment, each moment that we can. When you can entertain yourself with the mundane, you will have found the path to happiness. 

 Find a job doing the thing you love and you will never work a day in your life. We have all heard that said. I question how many people ever enjoy that luxury. My thinking is, the more industrialized we become, the less frequent that becomes. It is my thinking the more independent we are as individuals, the more self sufficient, the happier we are. I'm thinking that is exactly the independence our founding fathers had in mind when speaking of such. Not having ever been a farmer or a fisherman working his land or the sea, I have never known that independence. The closest I have come is when doing odd jobs for people. In that scenario I was an independent contractor. I was happy doing that work but it wasn't something to sustain me. The farmer and the fisherman are that way, the results rests primarily on their efforts. If they don't work, they don't eat. If they go to work but do not put forth effort, they get poor results. Yes, the remuneration is dependent upon them. They are independent! Whereas those of us employed are dependent upon the employer. We are not truly independent. 

 Do we really enjoy working for the benefit of others? You can enjoy your task, enjoy the occupation. I wouldn't dispute that. I enjoy working on machinery. I did so for many years. The majority of the time and the irony of it was the vast majority of the time I was simply maintaining that machinery. That's not very entertaining. I describe it as a fireman waiting for a fire. If you do a great job, if you have good luck, you prevent that fire. But your job, the thing you really love to do is put the fire out! I'm making the same of amount of money either way. I got paid the same whether I simply put grease into a bearing or rebuilt the entire machine. Which did I enjoy more? Rebuilding the entire machine. Why? Because I was entertained, I enjoyed that far more than the simple task. Therein lies the rub. Days and hours of the mundane and an occasional event. I remember when things broke, the rest of it not so much.

 Yes I would say the vast majority of our lives is filled with the mundane. Try writing about it sometime. Would you say your life thus far has been a novel or a short story? For me I'm thinking mine has been more of a note. Not much awful exciting has happened to me. I'm one of the lucky ones I suppose. No overwhelming trauma, no overwhelming adulation either. No, just the middle of the road, a Sunday drive. I've enjoyed selected attractions along the highway but am not dependent upon them either.