Time and timelords...

Yes there are big world issues that I could be blogging about but cyberspace is already overfull of the muses from both those who are wiser and those more foolish than I.

No, today my wonderings are about time... I have had a couple of days off and one of the things I have been indulging in is online episodes of the original Doctor Who series. I am following Tom Baker's Doctor and K9 through various adventures, and have the luxury of watching the 2hr stories straight through.

One day though I read a novel from start to end, and it struck me how we view supposedly 'good' and 'bad' use of time, even free time. To say to someone that you spent your day off sat in the garden reading feels acceptable, to say that you were in your dressing gown in front of the TV or equivalent conveys a totally different image - but why? Surely both are valid forms of entertainment and relaxation, yet there seems to be a moral distinction being drawn deep in our social psyche.

And are larks really better than owls? We grow up amid echoes of  'the early bird catches the worm' and the 'early to rise early to bed' mantra, this pattern is reinforced through the patterns of schooling and most jobs.  But we are not all larks. In my job I have a high level of flexibility about when a lot of things are done, especially admin and service preparation.  I am often up and working past midnight, but when in compensation I am still in bed at 10am it is perceived as lazy although I am still doing the same hours as someone who is tucked up well before Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.  This social expectation means I feel the need to open the living room curtains as I go to bed so that people don't know that I am getting up late.

We all have our own body clocks, need varying levels of rest and sleep and have different times when we are most alert and effective. Of course in a shared society we have to get used to working at set times, and fitting in with other people's needs and rhythms, but surely in our time off we could be free of the holier than thou view that rates larks above owls, readers above watchers, the busy above the restful?

But I will still open the curtains as I go to bed tonight (or should I say tomorrow morning) - still playing to the culture of expectation. The revolution waits.