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The mass of men lead quiet lives of desperation.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden 1854 Concord, Massachusetts
Today we have an idea called work life balance. A stated company policy of supporting employees personal lives by policy or practice. It is a response to job demands and priorities that exclude family or personal needs. People can spend too much time at work and neglect other aspects of their lives.
I guess Thoreau saw this in his time. Men working hard to achieve. Desperate for goods and services that one needed, or thought they needed. For Thoreau in his time at Walden, he practiced austerity, simplicity and reflected thoughtfully about life and leisure.
Thoreau’s opinion was that most men spent their time working for things they didn’t really need. The basic needs for survival were relatively easy to get or have. But we desired more and better things. It is this perceived need that causes this life of quiet desperation.
We can look at modern life and attitudes today and see those very same values. Don’t get me wrong, I admire a demonstration of a good work ethic. But when you look behind the motivation, when you see the values that people hold, you begin to see a shallowness and maybe a futility.
Conspicuous consumption, keeping up with the Jones’s and the worship of money and wealth can become obscene if taken to extremes. I’ve always thought of the world as a harsh uncaring place. And that insecurity a background of anxiety caused me to develop some habits.
So I probably have a version of quiet desperation. But I like to think of it as moderated by a pragmatic, ethical, balanced approach to work and life. I hope.