Are You Working Hard or Hardly Working?
Double, double, toil, and trouble
Hello, Summer Friends!
What’s the difference between work and toil?
idea of work
insults perfect sapphire sky,
offends summer sun
Instead of an essay, I just have a few musings and a question for you.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of work. It’s funny how many artists throughout history have been labeled indolent, even when they have created some incredible work.
In recent discussions, I’ve discovered that I have a completely different conception of what it means to work at something than many people. I have a mental line between work and toil. Toil is doing useless labor just for the sake of doing something. I enjoy hard work, but I despise toil. I’ve come to discover that a lot of people think toil is better than “idleness”.
I suspect that artists are sometimes seen as lazy because art often demands long periods of mulling and walking. A lot of creative work is invisible.
What do you think about work, toil, and idleness? Let me know in the comments!
Cheers,
Jason
Artists are always working. Some of my best ideas come when I’m on a walk or something. I think another thing to remember that there are a significant percentage of people who essentially think making art isn’t real work and that it’s wasting time because it isn’t “useful.”
There’s an insidious morality that finds its way into working/toiling.