At first I was puzzled when I read that Jean Renoir, perhaps the greatest film director of all time, once said that "the foundation of all great civilization is loitering." But now that I've spent the last hundred or so hours loitering over his remark, I think I'm beginning to understand it. What's more, I think it applies to agency life, too.
We are all too busy DOING.
We get lost in the details--the momentary upsets, the flash cuts of life, the trends, the pettiness.
We don't take the time to think.
To talk.
To share.
To kibbitz.
To contemplate.
To laugh.
To love.
To puzzle.
To ponder.
To unravel.
To experiment.
Whether it's at work or at life, we are time-sheeted into moderation and mediocrity, having to be "productive" every moment.
"What did you do today?" we ask.
Not "What did you think today?"
Not "Who did you meet today?"
Not "What did you try today?"
Oh, I'm not going aesthetic on ya.
Not preaching a Shangri-la of directionless contemplation.
But damn.
Slow down.
Don't you think?
