The parts in books that I find most interesting are often the parts that I can relate to my own life the most, which is understandable seeing as that is, I believe, the reason people read literature--in order to have some kind of revelation or life-changing thoughts that relate to themselves. In Jazz, this part for me was:
"She thinks she longs for rest, a carefree afternoon to decide suddenly to go to the pictures, or just to sit with the birdcages and listen to the children play in the snow. This notion of rest, it's attractive to her, but I don't think she would like it. They are all like that, these women. Waiting for the ease, the space that need not be filled with anything other than the drift of their own thoughts. But they wouldn't like it. They are busy and thinking of ways to be busier because such a space of nothing pressing to do would knock them down" (16).
This makes me think of all the times I long to have a day with absolutely nothing to do, but on the very odd chance there is actually a day like this, I usually find myself feeling guilty for not being productive and getting things accomplished. Our days are so full of business and tasks that we don't know how to live on "island time" and to live in a simpler way. The fast paced 21st century has us preoccupied with things that, in the grand scheme of things, don't really matter. A day with nothing to do always leaves me feeling restless and ashamed of myself, although I don't know if it should.
... It's kind of like a pipe dream. We go for months wishing something would happen, then when we actually get the opportunity to make it come to fruition, we don't take advantage of it.
A longing for rest could also bring about a seemingly too simple solution. Why not use the nighttime? The rest of the world is asleep and this would be the perfect opportunity to have nothing pressing on the agenda. In this way, the night is a time of calm.
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