A busman’s holiday isn’t all bad!
A busman’s holiday refers to the idea that a family road trip for a bus driver would find them doing exactly what they did when not on vacation – driving. It refers, generally, to doing the things you do for work on your off hours.
As I write this, I’m watching my wife edit family video clips together in Final Cut Pro, with joy on her face. Just a few weeks ago, she said, “If I never touch Final Cut again, I’ll be happy.” But when she needed video editing skills for her job during the Long Quiet, she developed them, and they made creative projects possible that she couldn’t have imagined pre-pandemic. Projects for fun.
Of course, choir directors know this. I know many choir directors who spend their day off volunteering in a church choir, or a couple weeks in the summer to sing in an adult choir camp. I even know busy choir directors who are singing throughout the school year in semi-professional symphony chorus or chamber choir.
These busman’s holidays don’t further deplete their well: indeed, they refill our wells because they combine the work we’re good at and passionate about with an absence of the authority and responsibility of our jobs.
Do you take busman’s holidays? Or do you prefer to keep your free time completely divorced from your work life?