When I lived in Madrid, and before I was able to comprehend anything like a novel in Spanish, I read pretty much any book in English that fell into my hands. Books were expensive, even paperbacks, and imported books in English were a luxury. My English-speaking ex-pat buddies swapped books all the time: in my little circle of close friends, there was a permanent, ongoing lending library happening. Occasionally I would actually proffer hard-earned cash for A New Book. And it would not necessarily be for an icon of literature. I loved reading autobiographies, especially contemporary ones, and if they were famous people in the world of entertainment, my curiosity was truly piqued.
One day I purchased the autobiography of Katharine Hepburn, called, appropriately, Me: Stories of my Life. I was not expecting marvelous pearls of wisdom; on the contrary, I was hoping fervently that she would give us the lowdown on Spencer Tracy. (In that, I was not entirely disappointed.) But what really surprised me were her intermittent philosophical musings on life. One in particular sticks in my mind: Hepburn was describing the back-breaking work of doing the landscaping for a new home she had bought. Her friends were puzzled that she would even bother to literally dirty her hands with such travail: she had more than enough money to pay for the best landscape gardeners. Her response was that she needed the hard, physical labor. For what? Apparently her mother had always told her “no matter how wealthy you may become in life, always save some of the drudge work to do yourself. It will help you maintain your sanity.” The gardening opportunity had come along at a time when she was feeling depressed, and that was what anchored her and kept her from quietly losing her mind.
As I read the ending of Candide, I was instantly reminded of that. There is something about manual labor that calms and orders the mind. Thoughts of depression cannot creep in. Not easily, anyway. Oddly, though, thoughts of being more productive do take root and grow. I wonder if Voltaire took the context of a farm to deliberately play off of the many interpretations of “cultivation.”
I will think on that as I busy my hands with some manual labor that is awaiting me in the kitchen. I am now getting a grip on the Enlightenment: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Clean Dishes. That will be my mantra as I do battle with food-encrusted forks.
Thursday, 15 February 2007 at 19:17
I have wanted to respond for some time to your posts on my site and tell you thanks. By the way, did you teach at the American School of Madrid? I was sooooooooo close to getting a job there in 2000. Another guy was offered the job and I accepted the job at the American school in Bolivia and the rest is history as they say. I wonder sometimes what experiences I would have had if I had lived in Madrid. Oh, well. I liked your reference to the hard work…the Bible is full of tidbits of wisdom about not being lazy and working for your bread. It was surprising that Voltaire was agreeing with the Church on this concept (albeit with a little different take). Idle hands are simply tools for the Devil so get in there and wash those dishes with a SMILE!
Friday, 16 February 2007 at 7:27
Hi, J.D. Thanks for commenting. Yes, “idle hands are the devil’s playground.” Or something like that!
No, I never worked at the American School of Madrid, but one of my best friends did. I also have friends whose kids went there. I taught EFL in language academies and then did freelance teaching of English (various companies, private classes, the Spanish Air Force, the O.N.C.E. (the blind!), etc. I still miss Madrid a lot, and have never entirely gotten over the culture shock, but… I am now married to a Mexican (from Hidalgo & Mexico City), so that helps a lot.
Friday, 16 February 2007 at 15:35
Good point. I heard a piece on NPR discussing the effects of no longer having manual labor as a part of our lifestyle. The effects were not only physical, but largely mental. It was a way to relieve stress and anxiety. It was a daily, automatic coping tool. Today we, as a society, struggle constantly with stress and its effects. We do not know how to deal with it.
Friday, 16 February 2007 at 18:57
Hi, Lyn. Yes, I agree with you about everything being so “automated” that there is not enough manual labor to help us through the tough spots. It’s interesting that these camps for troubled teens all feature a LOT of physical labor as part of their recovery process. Maybe we should all start our own little “vegetable gardens.”