Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
MArcel Proust invited us to reflect on lost time, that of a past that not even literary nostalgia will be able to make us recover. But what if the lost time was that of the present?
More and more books question the trend of our contemporary daily life compressed between alienating jobs (always when one is lucky enough to have a job), punctuated by a repetitiveness that estranges us from our inner world, occupations that do not always represent us and force us to be efficient without ifs or buts. Jobs that we sometimes struggle to reach, spending more time commuting even more tiring than the job itself.
Then, if all goes well, a more or less large portion of free time remains. And here a boundless prairie opens up that we no longer know how to face. Because that efficiency experienced during work as a conditioned reflex continues to influence those few hours that we should dedicate to ourselves.
When we finally have a glimmer of free life in front of us, a space without obligations and duties, it can happen that we feel a thrill almost of fear, a real void of meaning and so we try to optimize and make profitable even this glimpse of life which should reconcile us with existence and help us define our path on Earth.
“Save time. Discovering a life beyond the clock” by Jenny Odell (NR Edizioni).
The sense of guilt of not having made full use of this time too freed from commitments causes malaise and discomfort, even if we often end up spending it with our eyes fixed on a screen, whether it’s TV or mobile phone it makes little difference. It is increasingly difficult to identify our desires and try to achieve that little bit of spiritual well-being which could help us face an increasingly threatening future.
The work of the young Californian artist and researcher comes to our aid Jenny Odell which has just been published in Italy by NR editions Save time. Discovering a life beyond the clockwhich follows its precedent Like doing nothing.
“How to Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell (Hoepli).
I’ve never really believed in so-called self help books, but Odell’s enthusiasm is contagious and his philosophy engaging. It is worth embarking on a journey with her to discover a new time that can help us abandon the furies and obsessions that we adopt to survive, to simply start living again, perhaps in harmony with ourselves and the world around us.
All articles by Serena Dandini.
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