Wasting Time

For me the greatest luxury is a day when I have nothing to do.

Of course, there are many things I should do and many things I could do. But the truth is that I enjoy wasting time.

Is time wasted when it is spent with friends? Time after breakfast sitting over second cups of tea with Bob and Norman. Time going to supper with Lois and Pat. Time talking on the telephone with Gertrude in New York or Frances in Albuquerque.

I would rather spend time talking on the phone rather than reading e.mails, but I don’t like spending a lot of time on the phone with friends who live nearby. If they want to talk to me, come over. Let’s talk face to face. I can waste many hours gabbing with a friend.

I don’t like to shop. I have everything I need. Why waste time looking at stuff I am not going to buy?

I love wasting an afternoon sitting on the patio with a good book. I like books that tell me why other people do the things they do: a good biography or an insightful novel. Khalaled Hosseini’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” told me more about Afghanistan than any thing I read in TIME or saw on television. Was it a waste of time to read that novel?

I waste time watching television. Sometimes I learn something. Weekends CSPAN’s BOOKTV keeps me informed on current books. This week on PBS I saw programs on the Mormons and the Buddha.

The Mormons are a paradox: the Mormons I’ve known are wonderful people, loving and generous. But anyone who believes the Book of Mormon is a dolt. Its “history” is pure fabrication, which makes a rational person question the rest of Joseph Smith’s dictates. Oh, well, they do no harm and mostly they do good. I just don’t want someone who believes that nonsense to be President.

The Buddha said there are three poisons in the World: greed, anger, and ignorance. I will remember that.

After dialysis I am too tired to do anything but sit in front of the television. Thursday night I was reduced to watching a senseless murder on “48 Hours” and people buying multi-million dollar apartments in New York. A waste of time, but it got me through until bedtime.

Today I wasted all day reading 26 e.mails and found one thing to keep in mind:

Sometimes when I am angry
I have the right to be angry
But that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.