Why I don’t like holidays
I used to love the idea of holidays, going on vacations, getting away from the normalities of life, and ‘getting away’ from reality. It was fun going away when school was still on and your classmates still had to go to school. And then it was ‘back to reality’ after it was over. I still hear that phrase as an adult and it sounds depressing.
Why don’t I like holidays? Because it’s a form of escape. You’re not living in the every day, you’re looking forward to something way in the future and missing the present moments. It traps you in this cycle of a holiday, back to work, holiday, back to work, work, work, holiday, back to work. It’s a dream your employer sells you when they give your four weeks of annual leave every year (that’s how it works in Australia). Do you really want to work all year every year so someone gives you the “ok” to take 4 weeks off?
A lot of us live like this. Most of us do in the modern world with 9-5’s dominating the type of work we do.
The idea of the vacation is not as old as you think. It heavily influenced how we live in the west. The East doesn’t live like this, eastern cultures still have 7-day work weeks and have a day off when they feel they need it. For proof go to your nearest China Town and you’ll see shops will be open every day, some even 24/7. I remember in 2004 my family when to a Vietnamese restaurant for Christmas lunch, and still it’s one I’m quite fond of.
But in the west, we have a routine schedule. I’m not saying a routine is bad, it’s very useful in fact, but how happy are we actually with vacations and holidays?
The concept of the vacation has been around for about two centuries, only a luxury wealthy people could afford back then. More modern concepts of vacation came from religious movements. Muslims traditionally took a day of rest on Friday, while Jews observed a day of rest on Saturday and Christians did so on Sunday.
And further into modernism through the middle and working class with the industrial age it wasn't until the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s that the concept of a two-day “weekend" began to take shape. At this time, large factories that produced consumer goods were beginning to transform the traditional farming economy into an industrial one.
To all of us born around 1900 and beyond, it feels like the weekend has always been around like it was part of the beginning of the universe. Turns out, it’s just a made-up idea that is now part of and revolves around everyone’s life, even controls some.
Weekends, Vacations and Holidays are a dream people sell you to keep you in your box. So you can clock in and clock out, do as you are told, rock up on time, and take your lunch break and your day off when someone says.
We’re no longer in the industrial age, we're in the digital age. And the concept of holidays, vacations and weekends is slowly dying out. People are productizing themselves and regaining more autonomy over their lives so they can create their own weekends. You can do the same too.
Personally, I don’t subscribe to the idea of the weekend. A lot of people have the idea that it’s an escape from ‘normal’ life for a little while. Then back to reality.
No.
You get two days off work. Not two days off life.
“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Stay on top of your health, eating habits and career.
Live every day.
Naval Ravikant put it perfectly.
I realised a while back that it’s actually a problem to really look forward to holidays and to weekends. First, it takes the joy out of the every day, because you’re living in the future, you’re suffering the rest of time. Second, you have accepted a way of life in which most of your time is spent suffering.
Until next time,
Brody
PS
“No matter how much money you have, how many cars you drive, or how many properties you own…
If you can’t read a book or take a walk/nap on a (random) Tuesday at noon without asking for permission…
You’re NOT rich.” - Vizi Andrei
