“it is very important to be idle with confidence”
I have often wondered whether especially those days when we are forced to remain idle are not precisely the days spent in the most profound activity. Whether our
“Real recreation quickens aspiration”
Too many of us, especially when young, confound recreation with dissipation. Real recreation quickens aspiration. The true purpose of recreation is not merely to amuse, not merely to
I’m back
For the last few weeks I've been finishing the revisions to my book on deliberate rest, and so have been focused on that instead of the blog. As much
Nelson Mandela on exercise on Robben Island
When he was in prison on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela spent long periods engaged in hard manual labor— breaking rocks into gravel, and working in a quarry. You
Done
I've not been posting much these last few weeks because I've been finishing my book on rest. Well, I made my deadline, sent it in on Tuesday, and now am
“I’m not a writer, I’m a rewriter”
I'm deep in the last phase of revising the book, and came across these two quotations about rewriting. First is David McCullough, from an interview in the Paris Review:
The last push
Today I started a leave of absence from my job, to focus on finishing my book. The manuscript is due in five weeks, and I'm determined to make
“by the end its writer feels both entitled to a place in its field and unfit for any other type of work”
Rebecca Schuman writes in Slate about UC Irvine’s new program to get graduate students out in five years, and sees an important benefit: a climb down from the idea of
Winston Churchill on “painting as a pastime”
I’m just back from a trip to England, where I was doing interviews and archival work for Rest. While most of my time was spent in the British
In London
I’m in London for a few days, doing some research for Rest. We’re staying at the Hotel Russell, which overlooks Russell Square in Bloomsbury. I’ve passed by it