I recently saw a billboard in Times Square advertising the clothing manufacturer Tommy Bahama. It said, "Make all of your life a long weekend." I'm sure that sells a lot of colorful shirts and khaki pants, but it made me wonder: Does anyone want a life that is all weekends?
"Yes!" you may be shouting. And especially today, on the official start of summer, you are adamant.
We've been waiting months with the kind of anticipation that's left over from grade school when we could not wait to get out of school clothes and homework. We still imagine, "If I didn't have to work, then I'd really be happy."
Freedom from work is the stuff of many people's fantasies. Each week, they buy lottery tickets with the statistically vain hope of winning the chance to walk away from their jobs. But would life really be better if we walked away from work?
You need only talk to folks who have been retired more than six months to see that, if they are in decent health, most are looking for work or a project that will deeply engage them. They want to think and create and learn, and that's what most of us do Monday through Friday. Yeah, we've been told that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but maybe it's also true that all play and no work just makes Jack just as dull.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who has studied work and creativity for three decades, writes about the "paradox of leisure." He found that most people described states of "flow" — that is concentration, motivation and creativity — in their work activities as opposed to in their leisure.
"However, the paradox is this," he writes. "On the job, people report feeling useful and therefore more happy, creative and satisfied, and in their free time, people are less engaged, therefore they tend to feel more sad, dull and dissatisfied. Yet they report that they would like to work less and spend more time in leisure."
Here is an old tale that hints at the truth of his 30 years research: A man died and found himself in a beautiful place, surrounded by every conceivable comfort. An attendant came to him and said, "You may have anything you choose — any food, pleasure and any entertainment. The man was delighted, and for days he sampled all the delicacies and experiences he had dreamed of.
But one day he grew bored and he called the attendant and said, "I'm tired of all this. I need something to do. What kind of work can you give me?"
The attendant sadly shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry. That's the one thing we can't do for you. There is no work here."
To which the man answered, "Well, that's no good; I may as well be in hell." And the attendant said softly, "Where do you think you are?"
The message that our work can be our joy is even older. Stephen Cope, in his newest book, "The Great Work of Your Life," brings that same message to us from the 2,000-year-old Bhagavad Gita. Cope writes, "Most people are already living very close to their dharma but they don't live it intentionally. Their own sacred calling is hiding in plain sight."
As a writer, I've always related to the perspective of science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who was prolific. When asked about his best working conditions he would say, "Bad weather." His worst fear, he said, was a sunny day because then his family would nag him to come outdoors and he hated to leave his desk.
William Shakespeare, equally prolific and wise about work, wrote, "If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."
So when you find the work you love, every day will feel like the start of summer.
Diane Cameron is a Capital Region writer. Her email address is DianeOCameron@gmail.com