The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-08-26

THE ART OF LOAEING.
The summer is nearly gone. and most
persons who take an annual vacation have
already done so, but the outing season still
includes September. According to the
calendar September is a fall month, but in
this latitude we sometimes have our warm
est weather in that month. though this is
not apt TO be the case when any previous
month shows as high a heat record as Au-
gust does this year. Yet. there are good
arguments in favor of September as an out
ing month. If 1t is tedious waiting till then
there is the advantage of generally good
weather, and the benefit acquired so late
in the season is not quickly lost and is
good capital with which TO begin the win
ter's work. This is only one of many
things to be considered with reference to
the growing practice of annual vacations
and how to get the most good out of them.
1t is pleasant to observe that the number
of persons who recognize the importance
Of such a vacation and the number of
liberal employers who allow their employees
a week or two with pay is steadily in
~ AAAAO WIZ 0Ott "
that any person engaged in s~edentary or
combining employment can do more and bet
ter work one year with another, if he
or she takes two weeks every year for rest.
Universal recognition of this fact would
add materially to the sum total of happi-
ness and comfort without detracting from
aggregate production. A professional man
Of this city, now a little past middle age
and a hard worker, said a few days ago:
II am working right straight along through
the summer and stand it first rate. 1 never
worked TO better advantage than / am do
ing now, and 1 am not tired. either" This
man is not wise. He can stand that sort of
steady grind now because he has not yet
passed his prime and does not realize the
load he is carrying, but he is running up
a bill that he will have to pay later. He
is overdrawing his account of reserve
strength and will have to make 1t good
sometime. What does it profit a man to
devote a week or two once in a year to
work which should be taken for vacation
If. in a few years, he have to take months
for rest instead of weeks?
An essential part of the enjoyment of a
vacation is a knowledge of the art of loaf
ing. All the other conditions may be favor
able. as time, place, weather, company,
etc., but unless one understands the art
of loafing he or she cannot fully enjoy a
vacation. In it's broad sense this means
the facility of completely forgetting bust
ness, of dismissing all care and worry, of
ceasing to think about the things left be-
hind, and of giving oneself up entirely and
unreservedly to new environments and oc-
equations. The more these differ from the
old ones the better, and it is especially i'm
portant that they be free from all conven-
tionality. The art of loafing does not con-
sist with etiquette, form or society. In
its highest development 1t is an attribute
of savagery. The true loafer is the Indian
who floats or paddles along a lake or river,
oblivious of time, without any engagements
to keep or objective point to make, ignorant
Of the day of the month, forgetful of the
past and careless of the future, Indifferent
whether school keeps or not, concerned
only about the e meal, and not much
about that, slightly clad, not too clean,
but in perfect harmony with nature and
himself That is the perfection of loafing.
but a Civilized person can hardly expect
to attain it. The most the latter can do
is to become perfectly Indifferent for the
time being to personal appearances, and
get as near to nature and savagery as cir
cumstances will permit. BY so doing he
will get as far away as possible from the
"reminiscences of civilized employments and
get out of his vacation the greatest good
for the greatest number, which in this case
is number one. This sort Of loafing cannot
be done at seaside resorts, at fashionable
watering places, or even at less pretentious
places where conventionality still asserts
itself under some difficulties at meal times
and in the evening. The conditions which
make 1t possible can only be found In the
heart of some forest region or some out-of.
the-way place where nature and human
nature still retain a large degree of Their
original primitiveness ano where dirt Is
deemed a badge of friendliness. A touch
of that kind of comradeship makes the
whole world kin. 1t is under such condi
tons that the art of loafing, which is il
danger of becoming a lost art among civil
liZed people, asserts it's universal domi
nance and reaches its highest development