Ben and Me_ From Temperance to Humility - Cameron Gunn [55]
The Industry of Rest
If television is the enemy of virtue, it has two allies that are almost as effective at killing Franklin’s notion of Industry.
The first is simply the nature of the modern family. As with every generation before us, today’s parents strive to give their kids every opportunity they had growing up. The difference now is that my generation, having grown up in the 1970s and ’80s, had a whole lot of opportunities. So when we want to give our children a better life, we’ve got some work to do.
Thus, the Industry of the modern family: the dance classes, piano lessons, and swim classes, soccer, basketball, and hockey. There are art classes and play dates. How about a foreign language? I think the BlackBerry was invented just so parents could keep up with their children’s schedules.
One can debate the relative merits of this hyperbusy lifestyle, but what is certain is that it does not engender Industry from the parents. Who has time to invent a self-contained stove when soccer practice is over only ten minutes before swimming lessons? The only things that get created in that environment are fatigue, strife, and burnout. That, surely, is not Ben Franklin’s idea of Industry.
The other creativity killer these days is the Internet. It is like a superhero gone bad—it was created for good, but it has turned to the forces of evil. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I find the online world so compelling—so much information, so little time—that I have a hard time resisting its call. As captain of the good ship Industry, its siren call lures me onto the rocks of wasted time.
In any case, despite the challenges arrayed against me, the week of Industry was perhaps my most successful. I need not rehash my achievements, but it was the virtue to which I committed the most time and effort, and the reward was that the success is transferrable to the other virtues.
As a reward, instead of trying to cram more activities into our already busy family schedule, I did the most useful, industrious, and beneficial thing I had done all week: I relaxed with my family. We played games (I’m learning that even a seven-year-old can beat me at chess), read books, and went for walks. This was time well spent, not wasted. I’m sure Mr. Franklin would have approved.
About the TV thing. Like the junkie I had clearly become, the first few days were the hardest. The craving was almost physical; I was jonesing. By the end of the week, however, I was out of the woods. I didn’t reach absently for the remote, the sound of the TV in the next room didn’t cause Pavlovian salivation and a sudden craving for carbohydrates, and I didn’t find myself wondering about what was on the History Channel at any given moment. I’m not claiming that I was on the wagon completely, but I didn’t miss it—not much. Besides, I had committed to this television avoidance for only a week. The next week was Sincerity. During the week of Sincerity, I could admit that I liked a little useless, mind-numbing pastime. During the week of Sincerity, I could get back to the History Channel.
I just wouldn’t watch as much. I was too busy trying to figure out how to beat a seven-year-old at chess.
INDUSTRY
{CHAPTER 7}
Sincerity
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly,
and if you speak, speak accordingly
AT LONG LAST! I WAS ON MY OWN TURF. I KNEW THE SEAMS IN THE floor, the bounce of the rim, the cast of the lights. I was no longer playing in front of a hostile crowd. After a long road trip through the minefield of Franklinian virtues, I finally had home field advantage.
The next three virtues had a recognizable, comfy blanket quality for me. Sincerity, Justice, and Moderation. Finally, words that didn’t seem like they were written in some long dead language. Temperance I can’t do, but I was all over Sincerity.
{ Half a truth is often a great lie.}
What is that old saying? Pride goeth before the fall.
Honesty is one of the qualities that I most admire in myself and