#30: Leisure
WH Davies on the wonderful pleasure of leisure
The subject of mindfulness is a bit like eczema – a topical rash, all over us quickly, and itchy. Scratch the itch and one uncovers much good advice, about slowing down, stopping to smell the roses, unwinding, noticing more, and other clichés or value statements, depending on your point of view. Maybe it’s like meditation which certainly reduces stress, if only temporarily. I haven’t made up my mind yet. I practise meditation with delegates I encounter in training sessions which I facilitate; I find it clears the mind of the stresses of getting to the venue. And brings focus on the insights and learning to come.
Here is a beautiful short poem by the Welsh poet, WH Davies, published in 1911. The poem has been recommended to me for inclusion in this blog by a regular commentator. I am delighted to do so as it is a gem.
Davies is alleged to have been much influenced by William Wordsworth’s poem The World Is Too Much With Us (next week’s poem), but I am unsure. The Wordsworth poem is about the rampant over-materialisation of society, whereas this poem simply urges us to be still. So, I shall be still while you read the poem.
Leisure by WH Davies
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
It is interesting to note that Davies wrote the poem in the Edwardian era, usually interpreted as an idyllic period, far from the hustle and bustle and frenetic speed that has overtaken the present age. And yet here is the poem. Guys, girls (of the Edwardian era), slow down, smell the roses, what’s the point if we don’t enjoy the passing moment? This last question reminds me of an earlier debate about the journey of life. It’s the journey that counts, not the destination. We as a species are in danger of confusing our view of our destination in life with the experiences along the way. In that respect – if we buy into the latter interpretation (which I do) – Davies’s poem is remarkably contemporary. So…take more time, stare as much as you like, reflect deeply as you gaze. As you do so, ask your yourself the big questions – What’s going on here? What is my purpose? What is my plan? And objectives? And my ethic?
And then, something which may help even more.
Write them down, your thoughts that is, write them down into a Reflection Journal. Not a diary, but a treasured notebook, say, somewhere you can catch your insights and outsights on paper. One of those lovely blank books you see in bookshops, so appealing as they beckon you to write on their virginal pages.
Why do this? Just because – you will see, after a period of time, how your views and reflections have developed, how your answers to the knotty questions above have changed, have matured perhaps, have clarified your view on an important topic. And your insights into the real you will have sharpened, even a little, and you will feel like you know yourself better.
And if this takes a few moments of time, well, you will have enjoyed some leisure, the title of today’s poem.