Our Inhibiting Freedoms

For the past month or so, I have started many different blog posts and really haven't had the drive to finish any of them. Their subjects didn't spark an interest in my mind, and I didn't really connect with them. I also have been painfully busy writing for school, and in all honesty school has sucked the enjoyment of writing out of me for the time being.

But today, something caught my attention...

I am reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. As a friend of mine would say "It's a buzz book from years ago". Ok, 2003 to be exact. It claims to be nonreligious thoughts on Christianity. Basically about the author's spiritual journey, which in fact is a honest and interesting one. I am enjoying this "buzz book".

Here Don talks about how God has inhibited freedom in him:
"I told God I wanted to be a fish. I also felt a little bitter about sleep. Why do we have sleep? I wanted to be able to stay awake for as long as I wanted, but God had put me in this body that had to sleep. Life no longer seemed like an experience of freedom."

This quote resonated with me 1) because I have a fascination with the abundance of the freedoms we are told we have (of intelligence, especially), 2) because we really are inhibited by the bodies that we have and 3) I really could use for an extra 8 hours in my days right now.

It's for sure something I have never thought about. The freedoms that our bodies limit our ability to prosper as we would like. What a thought. What could I do if I could fly or breathe underwater? Or on a much more realistic level...What could I do if I didn't sleep? Well, really not realistic at all. Maybe more humanistic.

In a world of speedy and bustling lifestyles, would more hours lead to more days spent wishing for more time. Would our traditional 40 hour work week turn into an 80 hour work week? Would we find more useless activities to fill our time with?

I wonder if in a world of more time, if it would transgress much like this one. All we would know was 24 hours of awake time a day. Wouldn't we just fill the time and be unsatisfied, still? We always want more. I always hear people say "if they just had more time". Well if you had more time would it be beneficial?

Think about one less hour in a day. Would we learn to be more effective workers and we get the necessary done? If we had more hours, would we just accomplish the same amount but in a slower manner?

My questions could be endless about this. Its hard to know. Pulling all nighters can't help us find the answer, because I personally know that when 5 am hits, our brains just don't work at the same level. We will never know the answer of living in a body that did not sleep.

I guess we can't be angry with the freedoms that are limited by our bodies. I certainly wouldn't want to be in a sloth's body. Our bodies actually allow us to do more than any other specie.

I would say to Don: "Just be thankful for what you are, because it could be a lot worse."