"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a coloured pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling." That is the opening statement from On Lying In Bed by G.K. Chesterton, an essay written on the benefits of not only lying in bed, but the seemingly insignificant sociological changes that Chesterton saw during his lifetime. I found his piece in a book titled Essays By Modern Masters seventh edition it was published in 1934, needless to say the masters are no longer modern but masters nonetheless.

In this piece Chesterton expresses the joy he feels when he relaxes and lays in bed. Initially he was on a quest to find a wall in his home to draw or paint on. He found that all the walls in his home were already covered by previous artists (the wallpaper). When he gave up and decided to lay down he realized that the chaste canvas he sought was above him this whole time. He described it as heaven on earth, unattainable, despite his efforts to paint with a broom and draw in charcoal with the handle that he burnt he was unable to create any masterpieces. Even still he regards lying in bed as an "ancient and honourable occupation" even stating that Michelangelo most likely imagined how to he should paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel whilst lying in bed. This anecdote leans into a more philosophical, and in today's sense, political point. He goes on to tell us how, similar to today, the practice of lying in bed, was seen as "hypocritical, and unhealthy."

He tells us that this modern view is very dangerous and menacing to society. Now you may be asking why, and how having this view could be a menace to society. Chesterton goes on to explain that "the exaltation of very small and secondary matters of conduct at the expense of very great and primary ones, at the expense of eternal ties and tragic human morality". In layman's terms he is saying that people are more concerned with secondary or smaller conflicts, than primary ones. The example he provides us with is "it is more withering to accuse a man of bad taste (secondary conflict) than of bad ethics (primary conflict)". The book this essay is from was originally published in 1909, yet we can make a direct connection to modern day political correctness. In today's world people are more concerned with minute details that offend offers rather than being concerned with principle. He talks further about how "A playwright can attack the institution of marriage (primary conflict) so long as he does not misrepresent the manners of society (secondary conflict)". There's a million and one different comparisons that can be made to follow suit, the point is that the "exaltation" of secondary concerns over primary concerns weakens your mind and society alike. The example Chesterton concludes with is that of a hypochondriac, if a healthy man lies down without any sort of reason or excuse to lie down, he will get up a healthy man, but if he has some sort of secondary explanation he will get up a hypochondriac.

I highly recommend reading Tremendous Trifles and other works by Chesterton. He was almost the perfect stereotype of an English writer in the early 1900s, on top of dressing nicely he wore a cape, and a crumpled top hat. He was almost always seen with his sword stick and a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He was known as the "prince of paradox" commonly taking popular sayings and clichés and turning them inside out to further analyze and discuss them. Just as in the essay On Lying In Bed he advocated that there was nothing wrong and nothing right about lying in bed, and I have to agree, I just prefer to follow lying down with falling asleep.