Siting Pretty (?) As Summer Begins

As summer begins, it would seem we're all sitting pretty, right?

The war with Iran is over (ahem), Israel and Hezbollah have ceased firing on each other, the economy remains buoyant, the stock market remains close to all-time highs and seems giddy enough to go higher and...

We'll soon arrive at the 250th anniversary of these United States of America.

And with vacations coming up for many of us and the happy weather that so many adore in summer, who can complain?

Well, we won't complain. After all, what does complaining really get you?

Besides, we've addressed much of the stuff that seems to be feathering our chairs so we can sit pretty in the past. No need to dredge it all up again. Nothing's really changed in our contra-view (if indeed it really is to contra). Those who agree that things aren't what they seem will likely continue to do so. And those who have joined the party, well, why spoil it for them?

No, we'll just step back and observe even as we get outdoors more, go for more walks in the nearby park, try to bolster our minds, hearts, souls, and bodies after a rather trying winter and spring.

And wouldn't we all benefit greatly from a bit of bolstering? 

How to bolster? Well, we all have our own ways, but consider lumping them all under the umbrella of "recreation." With that in mind, a few thoughts about "recreation."  

Here's the primary meaning of "recreation," and how most of us use this word: "activity done for enjoyment when one is not working." But there's a secondary definition which would be more informative for our discussion that comes from the word's origin in Middle English via Old French, which took its meaning from the Latin recreatio (noun) with the verb recreara meaning "create again, renew." 

Doesn't this secondary definition describes a much richer use of "recreation"? We're not here focused so much on going to the beach, wandering around an amusement park, or cruising to "the islands" on one of those luxurious ships that offer pleasures a-plenty. Not that any of these is in any way wrong or irresponsible or, heaven forbid sinful - at least in and of themselves. But if that's all vacation provides - a diversion or brief respite from the daily grind - you may be selling your vacation short. 

Sure, you can just kick back. And that alone can refresh mind and body and soul. Refresh is OK, even good. But if you're one of the crew that isn't sold on everything being hunky-dory, then recreation in the richer sense may be for you. 

Not that you want to spend you off time studying economics, finance, and history. (Although it might no be a bad idea if you're one of those bereft of any knowledge or understanding of these based on a gutted educational system.) But something more meaty - albeit not so heavy that you're left un-recreated. (Is that a word?)

Maybe you can read something - a bit here and there amidst your other more indulgent activities. And to take a wild stab, may we suggest G.K. Chesterton? 

(Never heard of him? Understandable. He died in 1936. And, of course, the past effectively doesn't exist for too many of us. But that's not really OK, is it?)

This guy was a giant in his day. A giant in that he wrote around 80 books, 200 short stories, several hundred poems, several plays and 4,000 (yes, thousand) essays.  

So influential were Chesterton's writings that, delivering the homily at his funeral in June 1936 Ronald Knox said, "All his generation has grown up under Chesterton's influence so completely that we do not even know when we are thinking Chesterton."

Another suggestion: One summer I read a book about 100 years of the NY Metropolitan Opera. Being an opera fan, it was interesting, engrossing. And it added to my understanding and enjoyment when we attended live performances after that.

Anything that lifts us up out of our ordinary everyday existence, especially when it's wrapped in the media wash that seems to dominate the time and attention of so many, will make us better thinkers, even better doers. And, depending on our choice of vacation activity, our souls. 

And this will surely bolster our ability to make sense out of a world that can seem all too often to make no sense.

Agree?