Appreciate Life When There is Time! it is Important: Sara Stewart Message on CNN
At times it takes a toll for one to get the reality check that life is too shot. For this reason, Sara Stewart, in her opinion on “Its time for Americans to un- weaponized ‘laziness'” stated that it was not until when she was diagnosed with cancer that she started appreciating her life. “Why do we only learn to appreciate our lives when we are in dire straits? For me, the occasion was cancer, diagnosed in 2018.” (Stewart, 2021 par 1). There is more to life than work, and people should therefore start being ‘lazy’ and enjoy what is left of their life.
In her opinion, Stewart pleads with the pathos of her audience. She digs deeper into trying to connect with the emotions of her audience as she provides for different circumstances that have forced people into making a choice which they would not have made in the past years. Stewart uses imagery to emphasize her point that there is more to life than work. According to her, she exclaimed that “As if being at death at death’s door, or somewhat in that neighborhood, bestows wisdom that can’t be gotten any other way.” This was a form of imagery that Stewart used to guide her audience as to what entails being in your death bead and realizing that there is more to life than how one has lived their life before.
Sarah further suggests that there needs to be room for laziness. Sarah uses the word ‘laziness’ playfully in her opinion as she does not mean the literal meaning of the word laziness. In her opinion, laziness has been weaponized. It is being viewed as something uncalled for, but it is not that bad as people perceive it, she appreciates laziness, and she says, “For me, that means resisting overwork and spending more time in my actual life. Hanging out with loved ones. Just being.” (Stewart,2021, par 1). Sarah urges her audience to be lazy.
Through being rhetorical, Sarah reaches out to her audience in an attempt to help the audience understand the notion of laziness and life. One of the rhetorical questions one of which was, ‘who would have thought we’d see the day, here in the supposedly work- rabid United States?” referencing the day in which Americans would choose not to. In addition to this, Sara made it clear in her choice of words as to how Covid 19 confirmed that there is more to life than the usual employment, and laziness needs to be iincluded in people’s lives. Sarah corroborated her opinion with a survey conducted by Monster. Com when Covid 19 and the issue about working from home came up, a lot of Americans decided to quit their jobs, something that was a given a name and was called “the Great Resignation and the “Big Quit” as people were looking for those jobs that would allow them to work from home, or make them have flexible hours and make a living wage. Businesses got understaffed and kept closed for the better part of the day, and hiring banners were everywhere because in the past it had been working and work, but now there is a need to care of life as Covid 19 have come with lessons. Stewart concludes by saying she can’t refer to Covid 19 as a gift, but she appreciates the changes that it has come with.
Sarah Stewart advocates for lobbying for more flexible hours and advises on just giving that which is required to maintain being employed but not more than that. No overtime work and no earlier mornings. She gives an example of the corporate taking all the profits you make in working hard as you suppress the ‘lazy’ part of your life and give your all to the position or business to which you are serving. In her claims, Stewart says taking more breaks has been found to make people more productive, it is a time for a change, and the workers push it as no one will. Because for corporates and businesses, focus on the profits and the work and not workers’ well-being. There is a need to challenge the 35hour workweek mandate.
The need to go with the notion of ‘laziness’ and implement it within us, Stewart explains that there is a need for this, and this is how she puts it that the term ‘lazy’ is not a bad thing. After all, it has been made to look bad so that individuals can’t just quit their jobs and enjoy the unemployment benefits or go looking for jobs that are less demanding but are more peaceful and do not subject one to any risky working conditions. Though the jobs would be low paying, you will benefit from enough rest and less pressure from this and employment. Many good things can be linked to rest, and there is evidence. She gives an example of “I can attest that nothing is more helpful to my productivity and creativity than taking time away from my screen and desk.” (Stewart, 2021, par 6). To maintain a good healthy lifestyle, there is a need for proper rest and good working conditions where one is not subjected to torture and stress.
In support of advocating for the lazy lifestyle that people need to adopt, Sarah gave reference to a French author called Corrinne Maier who wrote something on ‘Bonjour Laziness’ where she said that people need to work as little as possible in their places of work. She got rebuked at her place of work for writing such a book as some felt like she had some hidden agenda, but in the long run, she had her reasons, and it is at this time that her reasons are coming out clearly that it is never that serious, all that matters are the number of rests you give your body as a person. Good rests equal to high productivity.
Sara, at some point, uses ethos as a means to try and get to reach the pathos of her audience. She gave an example of the essential workers during the Covid 19 pandemics. The push to go back to the better older days by the essential workers, because at the moment they are finding it hard as they work tirelessly with no rest. There are a lot of critical matters that revolve around Covid 19, and there is a need to respond to them very fast. The essential workers are finding it hard as there is much to be handled, and rest is a thing of the past. They are longing for things to get back as they used to be so that they can even get time to rest. People in the health sector want relief. They have gone through a lot from the low wages and salaries, small benefits, and burn-outs accompanied by fatigue. These are just a few examples of what little is provided for to the essential workers, yet they still find the need to go back to work. Sarah, in her opinion, tries to use ethos in an attempt to show people that even though they have to work to earn a living, Americans ought to start loving themselves and be lazy.
Sara uses persuasion in her manner of choice of words to lure her audience into reading about what she says. Her forms of persuasion come in different forms, as at one point, she comes off as strong. Especially when she asks why we have to wait until we are on the brink of death that we tend to start appreciating what life has to offer, she further persuades her audience to learn when to say no, especially if one feels that work is taking too much of their time, energy, and resources to join the Big Quit. If not, then Sarah further persuades such an individual to find different ways in which they will be able to take back their time through different ways. That is, advocate for better working hours, take several breaks in between work, or do not wake up early for work nor leave late from work. Life is worth more than spending time at work.
In conclusion, rest is a crucial part of work that needs to be always considered; it is through rest, one can feel re-energized again and work effectively, and as this happens, productivity is boosted. Sara Stewart is calling upon everyone to find the good in life while they are still strong and healthy, don’t wait until that time when you are in a bad state to start appreciating life; start early and grow with it. There is more to life away from the occupation and the employment you wake up to every day. Appreciate rest and be productive all the days of your life.
References
Stewart, S. (2021, July 21). Opinion: It’s time for Americans TO un-weaponize ‘laziness’. CNN. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/21/opinions/covid-big-quit-reclaiming-lazy-stewart/index.html.