Holiday Time: Wishing For a Bit of Peace and Quiet!
I remember a friend of mine — maybe 10-15 years ago — quite literally saying "Can we please stop the world, so I can get off?"
At the time, I could really empathize. I still can.
What IS This World We Have Created?
I have often written about what I tend to call "the shortening of time;" the way it seems like we have less and less time for each thing/activity in our lives... perhaps as a result of trying to cram ever more things into the same 24 hours we have always had.
The punters extolling the benefits of our modern times and everything we have will tell us that we have more than we have ever had before... but what price more?
And is it necessarily a positive thing?
I had this discussion with a friend/co-worker back in the 1990s when I worked in the IT industry and we were talking about "making great money," but it came with the price that we never had time to actually enjoy the benefits of that money.
That was 25 years ago. At that point, it was still possible to work a little less, and still get by... in a manner of speaking.
These days? Not so much.
Mostly, we now have to work that extra time, for the most part of account of the steep rise in the cost of housing over those 25 years. Or we can go back to "college style" living with four roommates sharing a house... when we are in our 40s and 50s!
Makes me think back to my teenage years living in Spain where multi-generational households were commonplace. But that was by choice, as part of an ages-old tradition. In 2023 USA, it would be from practical necessity.
The apartment in Austin, Texas where I lived in 1997 was $840 a month, and that seemed spendy, but manageable. That very same apartment (I just checked) is $2,485 a month now, in 2023. But pay hasn't tripled in the last 25 years...
But let's get back to "peace and quiet." I'm not talking about noise levels here, I'm talking about the peace and quiet that comes with not having to worry because you "should be working" instead of having quiet time with family.
Which, of course, those of us who are self-employed also get to experience.
Regardless, I shall do my best to have a peaceful and quiet holiday weekend, even if we can't exactly afford to turn off work.
What I would wish for for Christmas is a better 2024!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great Friday!
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Created at 2023-12-22 01:30 PST
1022/2277
I don’t even know how to explain the kind of world that we are living in now. Things are expensive, war breakout, people are not happy and so much more. It is really sad and annoying
Agreed, there definitely are a lot of things that tend to keep us worried and distracted and unable to fully turn our attention to the things that we feel are most important to us. And that is quite sad.
It defeinitely has been a wild ride and peace & quiet has become luxury, and something that can only come with discipline. Our phones and devices poke at us literally hundreds of times per day unless we shut them off…which we don’t because. It is like an adrenaline drip for our brains. Takes discipline to detect and manage that extra intrusive layer to achieve any sort of peace.
As for income vs housing costs, we had apartments with room mates back then BECAUSE WE HAD TO. I know the ratio is totally off right now in that regard but so many people are becoming chicken little based on the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment. A what? Oh I can’t drive because the cost of a Mercedes is too much for me!
Anyhow, peace and quiet is attainable but perhaps harder to achieve than ever before.
Great to spend time thinking about it and sharing thoughts so we can leverage each others tactics, peace and joy.
Happy holidays old friend.
There's something mildly ironic about the idea that we have to work for peace and quiet!
I'm grateful we live in a house that we paid cash for, so we have neither rent nor mortgage to worry about. Property taxes keep rising, along with everything else... but we just have to take it in stride.
We've "lost" several friends to property values this year, meaning they've sold and moved to Kansas, Ohio and Michigan, respectively. The "stupid" cost of living may prove to offer an economic rescue to the "rust belt" since it's what more and more people can actually afford," anymore. Everything goes in cycles!
Happy Holidays to you, too, Zeke!
A better 2024 is what we all want I think.
Merry Christmas for 2023 first though 🎅🎄
Methinks you're right! I'd like to think we'll get it, too.
Merry Christmas!