Leisure Time by Nannette Croce

Leisure time. It used to be what people aspired to. It was the last rung of the ladder. The “leisured” class.

When did it change?

Now the measure of success is how “busy” you are. How many cell phone calls you need to squeeze in before the plane takes off. How many times you need to check your Blackberry while on vacation. People complain about new technology putting them constantly on call, but I have often suspected that if silence were to break out, panic would set in. Am I not indispensable? Am I no longer important?

In support of this I can state, unequivocally, that it did not begin with the tech boom. A couple of decades ago I learned the hard way that when the manager said, “Don't call unless the building’s on fire” one should not ignore the wink and nod. Being constantly interrupted with "important" business matters lent a certain cachet. I even fell prey to it myself once or twice, making “You forgot to leave me those spreadsheets to type” into "another fire to put out" in the eyes of my traveling companions.

Not anymore. Call me crazy, but I appreciate my leisure time. At my last job, contacts wanted my cell number and personal e-mail to access me 24/7. Yes, I could have seemed very important, taking calls at my kid’s school play, but I wasn’t important. I had a part-time slightly above minimum wage job, and nothing really mattered so much it couldn’t wait one more day. Amazingly, my contacts learned to accept that. No one’s world fell apart, and I hung onto my now much appreciated leisure time.

Moments of Solitude by Nannette Croce

Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean being lonely. One person feels alone in a crowd, another is “her own best company.”

I don’t know if I am my best company, but I find myself very good company.

Seems more and more people almost fear solitude. They walk around with tiny phones clipped to their ears so they can talk constantly, in the car, the grocery store, while exercising. If not talking, they IM or chat. Keeping constant contact is the mantra of our time. No one says, “leave me alone” anymore.

I not only enjoy being left alone from time to time, I need it to stay balanced.

I make my best decisions alone. I may solicit an opinion now and then, but I consider that opinion, and all others, in solitude. Ultimately no one knows me as well as I know myself. Many people can’t say that, but I think that is because they spend little time alone, getting to know themselves.

I am grateful for the people who enrich my life, but I am also grateful for those moments of solitude. They enrich my life as well.