What Did London Breed Do After The Election?

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What Did London Breed
Do After The Election?

The answer to this question came from the article, “The mayor-elect pauses to reflect”, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, June 17th, 2018. During the interview she was asked:

Q. “Right after election day, you were out of pocket for a few days: Where did you go and what did you do?
A. Oh, my God, I don’t want everyone to know that.
Q. Our readers want to know.
A. I did go to Cabo, and I didn’t do anything, I went to take a vacation where I didn’t do anything. I tried not to think about 4 o’clock, the (daily) vote count. (Laughs) You know, relaxing is hard work… I didn’t take my phone with me. If I had, it would not have been a real vacation.”

When this interview was published I was reading a book, “Rest” written by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. The book starts with a quote from another book titled, “Gospel of Relaxation” written by William James. In the book “He argued that Americans had become accustomed to overwork, to living with an “inner panting and expectancy” and bringing “breathlessness and tension” to work. Americans wore stress and overwork like fancy jewelry, they internalized bad habits caught from the social atmosphere, kept by tradition, and idealized by many as the admirable way of life”. He also pointed out that overwork is counterproductive. If “living excitedly and hurriedly would only enable us to do more”, he said, then there “would be some compensation, some excuse for going on so. But the exact reverse is the case.”

Can you relate to this description of the Americans lifestyle? Well, this book was written in 1899. No, there is no typo. And you thought that things have changed in the last 118 years? In two parts “Rest” covers subjects like Four Hours, Morning Routine, Walk, Nap, Shop, Sleep, Recovery, Exercise, Deep Play, and Sabbaticals.

I was surprised to find out that many very accomplished people like Charles Dickens and Ingmar Bergman “spent a few hours a day doing what we would recognize as their important work. The rest of time, they were hiking mountains, taking naps, going on walks with friends, or just sitting and thinking.” Their creativity and productivity, in other words, were not the result of endless hours of toil. Their towering creative achievements resulted from modest “working hours”.
How many hours do you work and rest?

P.S.

I have a confession to make. I do work long hours. Usually my day starts at about 6am. My work in the office ends after 6pm. Then after having dinner, I usually write until 10pm. Having a puppy brought some change in our lives. I walk with Max three times a day and then we play, after which he rests, as all dogs do. Here are four images of resting dogs that I have photographed in different parts of the world. My book “42 Encounters with Dog lovers” finally went in to print. I will let you know next week when you can have it. Meanwhile, please pre-order at www.encounterspublishing.com.

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Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Signature