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In praise of idleness by Bertrand Russell is a great read on this topic

But also keeping a journal and writing everyday and analyzing the thoughts you have is incredible for slowing down time and cutting out fluff in life.

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The opportunity to be idle is the greatest and, at the same time, the most underappreciated gift given to the man. No other animal, who is constantly in search of food, shelter, etc. can afford that.

I've definitely watched birds playing.

Most animals- at least megafauna- don't spend all day in search of food, shelter, etc. They almost all have daily periods of idleness.

Cats of all kinds would be a good example.

And parrots. No natural predators and spend most of their day eating from lush forests. Seems like they were born to be idle.

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