"Dolce far niente" - Luca Spaghetti (Eat, Pray, Love)

For some reason, I woke up today with the intense desire to write a blog post. I am ashamed to say I have neglected my blog once more… I love writing, and writing these particular blog posts are one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, you all know how life is – you do the things you HAVE to do first, and neglect the things you WANT to do. I guess that isn’t how life should be.

I often think about the movie Eat, Pray, Love. The part where they are in Italy and Julia Roberts is sitting with her friends in the barber shop. Julia (or rather her character, Liz) is complaining about…. something… and her soon-to-be-new-friend, Luca Spaghetti speaks up: “You, Americans! You work hard all week until you’re burnt out! Then, you come home and spend all weekend in your pajamas in front of the TV. But you don’t know pleasure… You have to be told you’ve earned it… You see a commercial that says: ‘It’s Miller Time!,’ and you think: ‘That’s right! I’ve earned it!’ And you get it, and you go home and drink the whole thing. Then, you wake up the next morning, and you feel terrible! …But an Italian doesn’t need to be told. He walks by a sign that says ‘You deserve a break today,’ and he says ‘Yeah… I know. That’s why I’m going to go home at lunchtime and sleep… with your wife!”

Then, they proceed to teach Liz (or Julie) an Italian saying: “Dolce far niente,” which means “pleasant idleness."

Enjoying "dolce far niente" with my husband, Robby - a walk
on the land we purchased a year ago.

Now… 1) I don’t advocate taking a lunch break to sleep with your friend’s wife, and 2) I know that all Americans don’t go home and spend all weekend in their pajamas. (Lord knows, I don’t!) But I do know, especially in my community and among my close friends, that we (and many other people around the world) do tend to work themselves too hard.

Do Italians really think that way? I’ve been to Italy. I relaxed and marveled while I was there. I’d like to think Italians have a grasp on the divine secret to the balance of life and work, but I’m sure they’re like the rest of the world – trying to get as much done in 24 hours as possible. (If there is an Italian reading this post, I’d really like your take on this!)

Where is that balance? And if you can’t find that balance, then doing things you love end up being work as well.

I seem to start out every day with a mission. “These four things are my goals today, and I MUST accomplish them otherwise a huge hole will open up in the middle of the world and swallow up all of mankind.” Ok, that’s a little extreme, but that’s the severity that goes along with my (and many other people’s) daily “To Do” list. The world will not burst into flames if you don’t accomplish everything today. Flipside, don’t stack your plate so high that you can’t handle it either.

If you died a month from now, how would you live your last month? Maybe the way you’re living now, or maybe not. Are the things you’re rushing around for worth it? Maybe they are, maybe they’re not.

If the things you’re running for are, in fact, worth it, then great! But maybe you need a little help? It’s okay to ask for that “H” word, you know. I had a little trouble asking for that a while back, but then I realized: What’s better than accomplishing something cool? Accomplishing something cool with other people who think its cool, too!

Something I "run" for, but still enjoy and couldn't live without - Clogging!!
P.S. This is where I asked for the "H" word. And look how many cool people I have with me!
And there's more where that came from!

So if you don’t have time to sit down and read a book, crochet, go on a walk, work on your bug collection, or whatever it is that you do, that you’re passionate about… maybe it is truly time to rethink your priorities. Otherwise, you’re not living the ONE LIFE you’re privileged to live properly. ONE LIFE… that’s it. Are you living the way you want to? Are you living the way you’re supposed to?

(Sidenote: Writing that blog post only took me about 45 minutes. Certainly you’ve got 45 minutes to spare to do something for yourself today? Right??)