Beautiful Spanish Poppies.
I loved our time on Spain’s Costa Brava, cycling, eating grilled seafood and crusty gluten-free bread, taking in beautiful sights, living slowly, blissfully removed, at least temporarily, from the disturbing political chaos of America, a place, many days, unrecognizable by me.
Outside the unusual Salvador Dali Museum.
On one warm, sunny afternoon ride, I pedaled along side Jorge, one of our guides. So enchanted was I with this charming Spanish region I started quizzing Jorge about places R and I could live as ex-pats, even if just for a few months at a time.
Beyond our political discussions with each of us attempting to make some kind of sense of our countries, we deliberated approaches to living life. Jorge, a single father of two children, lives his life in a simple, “just enough” kind of way. He works just enough to support his life and his pursuits and lives slowly. When not working during tour season, he cycles, tends to family, enjoys; in the off season, he takes his kids skiing in the nearby Alps.
Back in the states, reluctantly sliding back into our lives, I thought about Jorge and his approach to life. Simultaneously, I noticed more and more articles pertaining to living life differently and was especially interested in one on NYTimes.com — The Case for Having a Hobby (5/10/2018).
When I worked, I never thought about having a hobby. I exercised, cycled during the season, traveled when we could, saw a few friends and worked and worked. I never considered how ambition and the pursuit of productivity related to the absence of hobbies or how challenging I found leisure time. In retirement, I’ve learned how challenged I am. As I learned when reading this article (though I already knew this), I was a member of “an achievement-oriented culture.”
The experts quoted in the article agree that one can cultivate an appreciation for leisure and even view work as a means of supporting leisure rather than the reverse. By creating space for leisure in your life, one can, in the words of one of the experts “sink into the wonderful experience of being alive.” At this moment in America for a majority of us such a feeling might really be impossible. But I’m trying to feel hopeful about the future.
Appreciate leisure is a new retirement goal for me and I’m fairly sure protesting and resisting are hobbies but probably not leisure.
A little Saturday evening protesting
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