From the archive

Stop turning every pleasure into work

Every ability apparently owes the world an immediate economic justification. You take photographs: where are the bookings? You write: where's the audience? You make furniture: why aren't you selling it? You speak a language: why aren't you teaching evening lessons? Because in the evening, perhaps I want to speak the language. Read a book. Talk to someone. Not fill another part of my day with obligations I'll need to recover from afterward.