Today Quebec is on vacation. Never is the use of the verb fall so appropriate. We don’t go on vacation. We’re not going on vacation. We don’t swarm on vacation. We fall. We fall off. we break down We are scared.
Posted at 1:15am. Updated at 6:00 a.m.
When Alcaraz fell after five endless sets against Djokovic on the Wimbledon lawn last Sunday. Empty. Like a marathon runner who, after crossing the finish line and 42 kilometers, falls to the ground sweating. Slammed. We can’t take it anymore. We can not! We have come to the end of our efforts. At the end of our strength. Work got us. The body relaxes. The spirit lets go. The whole thing is knocked out. In the name of ten or fifteen days.
Finally vacation!
The problem is that we don’t stay down for long. Time to take a deep breath, you get up and ask: “What are we doing?” Man is an exhausted hyperactive.
It’s not nature that abhors a vacuum, it’s us. But the word is clear: vacation. As in vacancy. unoccupied. Free. Leave. Why do we fill our vacations? Why do we stuff them with activity?
Pascal, the thinker, put it so aptly: “All human misery comes from one thing, namely the inability to settle in a room.” »
Like I said, it’s strong. All misfortune, not just a few misfortunes, the whole Pandora’s box, you thing, is caused by our inability to sit still in our room. We do not tolerate idleness.
Some will say they know people who don’t kill themselves at work. Its idleness gene seems to be quite developed. TRUE. Anyone who has ever waited hours for service in a government agency or shop knows this. But just because these people don’t do what they’re supposed to do doesn’t mean they don’t do anything. On the other hand. Because these people are doing something else, they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
Anyway, we’re not here to talk about the job, we’re here to talk about the holidays. Even the laziest worker struggles with his vacation.
The proof: Which of you, dear readers, will spend the next two weeks resting in a room? none. They all have plans. Visits, receptions, excursions, planned sporting events. A busy schedule.
According to Pascal, this constant need for entertainment is our way of escaping the fear of death. Rest, however partial, confronts us with eternal rest. That’s why we get so tired when we’re on vacation. In order not to think about the basis of existence.
Instead of asking: to be or not to be? We prefer to ask ourselves: barbecue or restaurant? Netflix or cinema? Golf or Tennis? Climbing or water slides? Above ground or underground pool? wear 30 or 60? Main or Maine? Stockings in sandals or sandals no stockings?
It occupies the mind. And the rest too.
Vacation changes the place.
Isn’t that the human condition: do you spend your time moving nasty places?
More positive minds, closer to Youppi! Pascal’s would say that by changing the place of evil we end up finding the place where we are good.
And we often meet them during their vacations.
Sitting outside in a chair or on a rock, lying on the grass or sand and looking at the sea, lake, river, mountains or stars. I just think how beautiful it is.
That moment, that Pascal moment, when everything, including us, seems to be on hold, recharges our batteries for fifty weeks.
That’s what I wish for you, the two who are coming.
Nice holidays !