The pricelessness of unstructured time
I enjoyed reading a well-written perspective on time, boredom, regret, and the appreciation of time to oneself from Mark, at Soul Shelter. His post is about Charles Lamb’s (1775-1834) book The Superannuated Man.
I’ve always valued unstructured time. I was twenty when I aimlessly wandered around Western Europe for several months. And I mean aimless as a good thing. I had no agenda, little money, but lots of time. It was an open-ended adventure.
I remember seeing exhausted vacationing Americans with Eurail passes hell-bent on “seeing” the sights in as short a time as possible. They had a different concept of time from me. Valuing time has had its costs, but unlike Lamb’s regret for a life confined to a desk, I feel the cost has been so worthwhile.
Before reading Mark’s post, I was only aware of Charles Lamb through his quotes. His advice to his contemporary, Coleridge: “Cultivate simplicity.” Despite Lamb’s life of drudgery, he had his moments of levity:
“If ever I marry a wife,
I’ll marry a landlord’s daughter,
For then I may sit in the bar,
And drink cold brandy and water.”
Lamb suffered time poverty. With only one day a week off and one week a year to recuperate, he had almost no leis