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The Value of Lazy

Good post over on "Life without School" about laziness, or what is perceived by laziness by the culture:

Dinner with unschooling friends; kids mixing and mingling all around, is the perfect place for a blog post to begin. Lively conversation, intense debate; it's all excellent fodder for my brain to percolate on educational philosophy and our collective parenting culture. This particular evening led to lots of conversation about the way our culture views laziness.

Webster's says that the definition of lazy is: averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent. Sounds pretty negative, huh? Particularly because we live in a culture which values work and productivity above many other things. We've created a system of pay-offs and incentives to train children to become workers so that we can continue making more, being more, doing more, and then we hurry up and do a little bit more so that we can finally relax when we're 70. Interesting system, I think. And not very supportive of creativity, mindfulness, or letting things unfold in a gentle manner.

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