I Don’t Summer Well
By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs “I don’t summer well.” That’s what my (Donna) younger of my two sons said to me the other day. And you know what, he…
![cookie spoons before](https://www.socialsuccesscentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cookie-spoons-before-1.jpg")
Guest Blog Post
By Trent Briggs
This blog was inspired by a collegiate assignment that examined the “good life”.
Immediately interested, Joe and I take a look. That night we drove to the market, bought cookie dough, and made cookie spoons, or, tried to. What we created before we put them in the oven, couldn’t be more perfect, and this plan was completely foolproof, right? Well, not-so-much after seeing what they looked like after the oven. These cookie spoons were the biggest waste of time ever, or were they?
Was making cookie spoons a waste of my time, or was it a valid part of my conversation of a good life? In one of my freshman classes, we studied various views on leisure and what that means in our lives. One view was that leisure and work go hand in hand, and complement each other. Discipline describes the balance between doing the things you want to do and doing the things you need to do. If one has a good balance of those two things, they have discipline. If the goal of this discipline is happiness, then the goal of balance is happiness. One must balance their work and their leisure to achieve happiness.
In the example of my cookie spoons, I had just finished an essay which completed my work. Then I started making those failures of cookie spoons which was my leisure. Some feel that leisure should be aimed at self improvent and that free time is time doing neither work nor leisure. I believe that free time must be turned into work or leisure, for one can never do “nothing.” It is this balance of work and leisure that leads to happiness, and inherently, the good life.
So, how does one go about living the good life? Well, I would recommend making some cookie spoons to start, but other than that be disciplined and not allow leisure to overtake work. Do not allow work to overtake leisure either. A life with all work and no play is not a good life. Having a balance of these things allows for happiness and the good life.
Hysterical cookie spoon fails count too.
Trent Briggs, is a sophomore at Saint Anselm College.
