Once, perhaps not so long ago, we had a sense that there were activities worth doing for their own sake.

But perhaps without realising it, we’ve more and more taken on an understanding that the only value worth serious attention is economic performance.

It doesn’t take too much looking to see how much of human life is of an importance far beyond any number we can put on it. People try, but can a figure placed on the value of friendship, a walk in the park, a forest, or time spent in the presence of great art or beauty ever hope to express its true value in our lives?

And when the nurturing and sustaining of human relationships with friends, family and community has little measurable economic value, but long hours of office work apparently do, is it any wonder so many people, without realising how they got there, now find themselves so painfully, terrifyingly lonely, even in a crowd?

Photo Credit: Martin Gommel via Compfight cc