Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1902-12-11
THE WOMAN OF LEISURE.
by Her Ambitious and Ener-
getic Sisters.

object of pity rather than of envy.
To her, life is but one continuous
round of efforts to enhance the time
killing process. Given over to en-
joying mere existence, she expert
ences no incentive to usefulness, and
drifts on, day by day, with no am
bition, no plans, no hopes, no goal
beyond the confines of her daily do
nestle routine and the weekly sched-
ule of society events, says a writer
in Ladies' World, New York.
As consequence, her opportuni-
ties to do good and for self-advancc-
ment go unrecognized; or, If recog-
nized, unimproyed. The spare time
which her busy sisters so earnestly
covet is wasted in unneeded rest or
recreation, leaving its disfguring
mark of languor and dissatisfaction.
What the so-called woman of leis-
ure needs to do is to arrange to have
no leisure. 1t was not intended thai
we should drift aimlessly through
this life, with no care as TO what
course our craft should pursue. Our
very makeup bears us out in the
statement. None is content to sit
with idle hands and brain all day,
which many claim they can do. Yet
could they but realize it, the brain
will not consent to utter idleness. 10
will roam at will DER the world at
large, and the hand twitch nervous.
ly at handkerchief or other available
article in the wordless demand for
employment. Inexpressible mental
and physical depression follows in
the wake of continued idleness, un-
til these professional rest-seekers
grow weary of the chase Many Of
them fail to recognize the cause and
the remedy for their imagined ills
thus enhanced, much to their further
misery and shame.
l recently attended a college COM
mencement, and at the close of the
last days exercises one of the girls,
a lovely young lady belonging to the
sophomore class, dropped a remark
which is really the cause of this ar
ticle. She informed me that she had
already counted up the number of
times she must wash dishes ere col
lege should open in the autumn,
YEARLY declaring it to reach into the
hundreds. And yet she belongs to
one Of the leading families of her
city, her father being a lawyer of |
more than local reputation. Her OPP
portunities for advancement are |
legion and are jealousy watched by |
the college girls whose means are
limited and who gladly would enter
the open doors which so invitingly |
beckon to her. Blind to the real |
beauties and possibilities of college
life she leisurely plods along in the
old beaten track, doing by choice
meniaPs task, and leaving her more
ambitious sisters to climb the ladder
to usefulness and attending content
"a feat which she could accomplish
with half of the effort and with but
little sacrifice. Her college life
means naught to her, and when it is
finished she will doubtlessly drift on
into the routine of dish-washing and
home-making, with no such enliven-
ing ideals as will animate her more
ambitious classmates. Could she but
choose some worthy aim in life, the
domestic tasks would prove a pleas
ure rather than a burden.
1bara ora 90 opJ
women of whom my friend is a fair
example. By giving themselves over
to a life of leisure they really miss
life's best, little knowing that the
things they necessarily chase az
pleasures are but a mirage of the
desert. There is no satisfaction in
the pursuit, and no probability of
Did they but know it, the
to gain lasting pleas
ures mark their pathway at every
turn.
The only way to grasp and use
such opportunities at their full value
is to select some line of employment
into which one is willing to put her
best thought and effort. 1t must be
outside of the domestic
and social circles, which will enable
her to see home, society and life in gen.
eral from an ever-changing point of
view. Then if she counts the dish
sweeping, calling or at
home" events it will be, not with a
betraying tone of discomfort, but {
with the aspiring attitude of gratii- !
cation which characterizes the hap
PLY successful and the successfully
happy woman.