What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
William Henry Davies
To ponder: to contemplate, muse, reflect, think
To potter: to move around without hurrying, and in a relaxed and pleasant way.
From slow food and slow cities to mindfulness, therapy, reflexivity, introspection, yoga and a whole range of activities through which we can enhance our physical and mental wellbeing, the space for pondering and pottering is being colonised. Surveillance or self-surveillance is being used to monitor our time spent engaged in pondering and pottering, re-constructing these previously unstructured activities or spaces as potentially useful and checking whether we are performing them sufficiently and correctly. This can be seen in education, in healthcare, in our attitude towards play and exercise, almost to the point where it is encompassing all of what we do and how we think…..For the full blog please see the Cost of Living Blogsite.
