Are You a Lotus Eater? — Exploring New Points of View

A Starting Point

Lotus eaters have a mythic origin in Homer’s The Odyssey. On their journey, Odysseus and his mariner crew encounter a mysterious island of seemingly happy people. The euphoric, yet wholly unproductive residents regularly indulge in lotus tree fruit, which causes an apathetic haze of euphoria. Odysseus’ crew who ate the fruit had to be dragged back to their ship and chained to their rowing stations. Otherwise, they would have never left.

It’s an unmistakable message: overindulgence is dangerous.

British Columbia residents have been called lotus eaters before. It’s pretty clear why. Especially on Vancouver Island, we spend a great deal of time on fun things. We hike, bike, play on the beach, and enjoy the awe-inspiring natural surroundings of our province.

Not to mention the “island time” phenomenon. Vancouver Island is known for people living at a comfortable pace. But, is this a bad thing?

The Two Sides

On one side of the coin, we have lotus eaters — time enjoying life is time well spent. In the modern sense, being a lotus eater doesn’t necessarily mean staying disconnected and apathetic. It means taking time to smell the flowers, or lotuses, so to speak.

The other side of the coin? A representative turn-of-phrase would be “time is money.” Consider the stereotypical Wall Street businessperson. For him or her, productivity is paramount. Time can’t be wasted gawking at flowers when there’s opportunity to be found.

Any highly driven person might be found in the second category. Perhaps this person feels they need to provide for their family. Or maybe they really want

to get that new car to drive in style. There’s plenty of good reasons to be highly motivated. Still, how many of these reasons lead back to some kind of life enjoyment? Even providing for one’s family ultimately leads to happier lives. Doesn’t it?

Food for Thought

It’s easy and useful to see these two points of view as a spectrum. Too much enjoyment and you’ll turn into a disconnected mess. Too much productivity and life passes you by.

For sure, a certain amount of productivity is necessary to even dream of having a happy life. At the very least, personal hygiene is healthy productivity. But what about too much work? Remember that taking care of yourself also includes taking time to relax and enjoy a thing or two. People who work excessively tend to learn the true meaning of burnout.

Ask yourself this: how important is “stuff'? What good is that polished new car if you don’t have any time to enjoy it? What good is taking walks on the beach if you don’t have a comfortable home to return to?

As far as I know, Vancouver Island has a safe lack of lotus trees. We’re all protected from being drawn into a blissful, unproductive, and ultimately unhealthy trance. Still, it’s worth a pause and a thought to ask yourself where you’d like to sit on the ‘relax-work spectrum’.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting things to enjoy. There’s also nothing wrong with spending time on happiness.

Chris Robinson is our editor and has studied writing and philosophy at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Have something to add? Submit your comments on our blog here or e-mail Chris at editor@islandtimesmagazine.ca