America began to acknowledge its cultural obsession with “busyness” a few years ago, when Tim Kreider wrote the now legendary piece “The Busy Trap” for theNew York Times. Nearly three years later, while our culture certainly hasn’t changed, an admitted addiction to busyness has at least transitioned from groundbreaking journalism to mainstream conversations.
While I fall into the category of people who are typically the biggest busy-worshippers (a working mom, educated, middle class), I always assumed that I wasn’t a part of the crowd. I write about media and culture and parenthood, for goodness sake! Surely, I couldn’t blindly succumb to a cultural trend.
But then, over the holidays, when my great-aunt asked me how I’d been doing, the words, “Good—but so busy! Crazy busy!” sprung forth from my mouth, and I realized that I’m just a drone impersonating a self-aware person.
Rikki writes. 