On the return bus ride from New York to D.C. last night, I was listening to my iPod on shuffle when The Limousines’ song “We Are Very Busy People” came on. Not only was I reminded of how much I like this song, but it also reminded me of the recent NYT article “The 'Busy' Trap.” One of my friends half-jokingly said she was too busy to even read it! After putting the catchy song on repeat, I watched the scenery pass by and mulled over our culture’s obsession with being busy.
When I was eleven or twelve years old, my parents enrolled me in a summer course (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my idea) to help me plan, prioritize and multi-task better. We were encouraged to list our short-, medium- and long-term goals on a regular basis. A lot of parents must have been on the same wavelength as mine because now that I think about it, I don’t believe adults from my generation* have any problem identifying their goals. The problem is that they don’t know when to stop.
Over the next few days, instead of posting pictures from California like I said I would, I want to explore a bit more the preoccupation we have with well, being occupied. But for now, my short-term goal is to finish my pizza, drink a beer and catch up on some well-deserved TV (Breaking Bad, anyone?).
So instead of photos from San Francisco, I will leave you with this clever video of SF Bay Area-based The Limousines.
THE LIMOUSINES from Mathieu Wothke on Vimeo.
*probably from my socioeconomic background, as well. But I'd like to think this behavior is increasingly present across the board.
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