Jeff Pieper Work

What is work?
“Of course the world of work begins to become - threatens to become - our only world, to the exclusion of all else. The demands of the working world grow ever more total, grasping ever more completely the whole of human existence.”
― Josef Pieper

When looking up the definition of work I was surprised to find so many definitions; According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the main definition is “a job or activity that you do regularly especially in order to earn money.” One of the antonyms of work is laziness, which has as one of its synonyms “leisureliness. Leisureliness is defined as “averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.” Surely this modern definition of leisure cannot be the “basis of culture” as Pieper’s essay title insinuates. This essay was indeed hard to follow, but one thing I am sure of is that Josef Pieper did not mean that being lazy was the basis of culture at all; in fact, his
According to Pieper, "Leisure is a form of that stillness that is the necessary preparation for accepting reality; only the person who is still can hear, and whoever is not still, cannot hear. […] Leisure is the disposition of receptive understanding, of contemplative beholding, and immersion — in the real.” (Simply Convivial) This seems to insinuate that to Pieper, leisure was a time for incredibly deep thought and contemplation. It is a time to block out the trappings of everyday life and consider far deeper matters. “Leisure is not the attitude of the one who intervenes but of the one who opens himself; not of someone who seizes but of the one who lets go, who lets himself go, and “go under,” almost as someone who falls asleep must let himself go.”( Simply Convivial) Here I get the impression that Pieper is saying that we are to let go, and submit ourselves wholly to this deep contemplation and really listen to what reality really