The University Library: Countering Idleness

Today is my day-off. If truth to be told, I do not enjoy a day when I do not need to go to work. I enjoy  going to work and I like that I feel a little bit tired after a good day’s work. It very gratifying and give me the sense of enduring happiness.

The only advantage I can appreciate on not going to work like today is that I can stay late in bed. That, of course, has its own peril. Staying in bed as late as I could – and I can certainly stay in bed as late as I could – makes me lazy, bored, and lethargic. The sense of emptiness that comes with it is just unbearable. That idleness is the greatest enemy of one’s soul is a Viable claim.

In order to combat idleness, I made some plans for today. The plan on how I am going to spend my free day is directly correlated with The Study Game, but instead of doing it in the comfort of my desk at home, I made an effort to wake up early, leave the house, and travel to the university from where I have studied. I am now in the university library. When I am not writing this particular blog entry, I am doing The Study Game in the university library.

The Study Game is both an activity and a mental space which is not bound within a singular or particular physical location. It can be performed and accessed anytime and anywhere. At the same time, it should also be acknowledged that one place is more conducive than others in playing and entering The Study Game. Like my desk at home, the university library is most conducive in crating such space and performing such activity. Any library will not do, it must be a university or a specialized library. These libraries are like temples, places of worships.

While in the train this morning and on my way to the university library, I was very excited and high spirited. I felt like I am going to and excursion. There is nothing more I like to do but to read quietly in the train. Reading quietly in the train feeds the illusion that I am actually doing two things at the same time: I am reading and travelling at the same time. I am entertaining myself as I also move.

I am quite delighted to be here in the university library. Here, I have once again access to the academic journals online that I could no longer access at home because I am no longer officially enrolled as a student. Another privilege that I used to enjoy as a student that I no longer enjoy now that I have graduated is to borrow books. That means that in order to access the digital journal articles or to read the books from the library, I really need to be in the library physically.

There is something so old fashion with going to the library, taking a books from their shelves, reading the on location, and returning them once again from where they came. It is so pre-digital age and although it is not that long time ago, it nonetheless sounds so archaic. I feel so excited about this. I would not be as excited as I am right now if I only stayed at home and wasted my free day doing things that are trivial or simply doing nothing at all.

To have a rewarding day after a good day’s of work is easy. To have a rewarding day when one does not have to go to work is far more challenging. When we are pursuing something beyond our responsibilities is when we are actually distinguishing ourselves. Visiting the university library on my day off has at least given me something to blog about. It is certainly an antidote to idleness.