Review “The Importance of Being Lazy, In Praise of Play, Leisure, and Vacations”
by Al Gini
Get up, it’s five in the morning and
it’s time to start your day. The kids have to get up, get dressed, have
breakfast, and go to school. You must also get dressed, make breakfast, maybe
have some, and then you have to leave for that thing called a job. Americans work too much according to the author
of the book The Importance of Being Lazy.
The author, Al Gini, has authored
several other books, Why It’s Hard to be
Good, Seeking the truth in things, and My
Job, My Self, to name a few. Gini is
also a Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois
and is a voice heard over the airwaves on a National Public Radio Station. The
book The Importance of Being Lazy is
available on the Amazon Kindle and makes for an easy book to pick up and enjoy.
Gini’s thesis mentioned in the prologue states, “…even if we love our jobs and
find creativity, success, and pleasure in our work, we also crave, desire, and
need not to work….” Gini merely points out what many Americans are heard saying
however make excuses as to why they can’t. The voices of people saying, “I need
a vacation!” and “Is it five o clock yet?” echo throughout each state and every
type of work environment. What happened to taking that vacation and just
soaking in the sun? It almost seems like a foreign concept.
The
chapters in the book make it easy to follow with chapters on vacation and
traveling, mini vacations, shopping, leisure, sports, and include an entire
chapter on religion. The Narrative is a
bit informal, which is great for a book club discussion or a simple reminder to
take a “wellness day” (the opposite of a sick day). We humans, in general, have
lost the capacity of resting. We worry so much that even when on vacation, we
don’t know how to rest. Gini describes himself as a “workaholic”, which by
definition means slave or very hard worker. There are several personal examples
in the book about Gini and his experiences. These examples give the reader the
feeling of being engaged in a conversation with Gini and in many cases note a
parallel in one’s own life.
According
to Gini, the problem is really not where people go on vacation or what they do
on vacation; it is that we do too much on vacations. We stay too busy and
rarely get into sync with oneself.
People need solitude to center and focus on self. To get in touch with
the self, is needed to self discover and self compass. Gini gives several
reasons why it is important to stop being so busy and start focusing on the
self to create the best self there can be. Gini suggest that vacations need to
be about self rejuvenation and time for solitude to gain a deeper understanding
on the self. Humans need and should require time alone, to reflect, and to
focus. He suggests that vacations and time alone should not be considered a
privilege but that it should be a necessity and a requirement. Gini quotes
Freud, “we flee from or avoid solitude and reflection and seek distraction
rather than insight, merriment rather than meaning” There is a scary and
disturbing truth to this statement. Why are we so afraid to look at ourselves
in the mirror, figuratively speaking, and look at ways that we could change
ourselves to become a better version of ourselves? In truth, this type of
reflection can be done without going on a vacation, or seeking time away. This
type of reflection can be accomplished by simply waking up thirty minutes
earlier and use this time to seek a better version of ourselves. Vacation on
the other hand can be and should be time to be with family. Forget the cell
phones, the Ipads, Ipods, Kindles, and any other forms of electronic devices
that connect us to the world. This is time that should be used to connect with
the people who live with you, depend on you, and love you, day in and day out,
no matter how busy one gets. The book, Importance
of Being Lazy, is insightful and inspiring.
Gini
may have written this book for fun or as a simple reminder that life will pass
us by no matter how we choose to live it. He simply made an attempt to bring to
our attention the need to stop and for a moment just live a little. It’s okay to be idle and soak in what
surrounds us. The saying, “stop and smell the roses” is what comes to mind. So
people wake up and start the day without taking notice of the beauty that
surrounds us. Americans stay busy from morning to evening without taking a breath.
It is time to change that practice and incorporate a little down time, a small
moment each day to center ourselves. It is so easy to lose ourselves in the
everyday grind. Schedule that family vacation and get away then enjoy this
little thing called life. Just remember to leave that one person behind that
has to schedule every activity, that has to dictate when and how things will be
done. That person that will over-schedule you because they don’t know how to
STOP! That person may be you! Gini’s point here is to be okay with doing
absolutely nothing, reconnect with who you desired to be, who you have become,
and where you want to go.
The
book is a clever, short, and fun read that could be shared with almost anyone.
Then when you hear the voices of people saying, “I need a vacation!” and “Is it
five o clock yet?” Remind them, that it really is okay to soak in the sun! It
is okay to take that vacation and do nothing, and it’s okay to have a short
moment to yourself. To plan absolutely nothing in that timeframe, and reconnect
with self can be a profitable moment.
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