“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
Bretrand Russell
We are such a busy society. We are always rushing from here to there. Our calendars are booked and we love productivity.
I love productivity!!
So can it really be true that if you enjoy something it’s not time wasted? I don’t know but think it’s true. Even watching television or doom-scrolling. Can it be a waste of time – yeah, if that’s all you do, but sometimes, I do believe our brains need to rest. I don’t think staring at a screen is the best rest for our brain, but I can look back on times God has used even kids television programs to speak powerful lessons into my heart. I don’t think watching TV is wasted time. Not necessarily. But if it’s all you do, it’s probably a good time to find some alternatives.
Here’s what I know isn’t wasted time: creating, any kind – crocheting, painting, drawing, arranging flowers, baking, building Legos, writing, … making anything with your hands — that is your brain working, your senses alive, your skills quietly sharpening. It doesn’t have to make money. It doesn’t even have to be seen by anyone else. It just has to be yours. And that’s enough, because you are enough.
I believe this with my whole heart, but I struggle with it as well. I look back and see so much time I took for granted — time that could have been spent investing in people, in learning, in myself. And sometimes that guilt can get to me. Missed opportunities, missed relationships because I was busy being ‘productive’, unwilling to do something ‘wasteful’ with my time.
Like drawing on notecards just to throw them away. I have stacks of notecards with doodles or just random lines or ‘Hello Sunshine’ written on them. Is that wasted time?
My honest answer is no. Maybe I needed the stillness. Maybe I needed to feel the pencil move across the page and watch something small and beautiful come from nothing. Maybe that quiet act of creation was exactly what my soul needed — even if I was the only one who ever saw it.
Time is precious. And none of us know exactly how much we have – that’s why we worry so much about it being wasted. What if what we define as ‘wasted’ is wrong. What if all our busyness and productivity are not leading us to a joyful, peaceful, happy life? What if we’re missing the point? We might all be a little better off if we ‘wasted’ a little more time.