Quotes and Notes #159, April 12
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”–Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Little Prince”—
When I was in the second grade, the teacher wrote a note to my mother that said, “Johnny wastes too much time.” That was over sixty years ago and I still remember.
I know now that what that teacher didn’t understand was that I was involved in the important work of day-dreaming. I never quit. When I was much, much older, I learned to couple this practice with an activity and even later I learned that pruning bonsai trees was a very good way to focus on the day dreaming. It was an excellent way to waste time, but it also resulted in some beautiful trees.
For the past ten or so years, I have wasted time with my writing. It makes me feel good when I express my private feelings in a journal. It makes me feel good when I write a book that makes people laugh, or makes them cry, or which makes the ladies go “awww.” It really makes me feel good when my day-dreaming-writing helps someone.
Join me in the pleasures of wasting time.
Share a smile
Everything is going to be all right.
John P. Schulz