The Tyranny of Productivity

I saw the above image while driving home from the grocery store. I glanced at the sky and thought, “How wonderful.”

And then I realized how easy it would have been for me to look away and carry on with my day, not stopping to actually look up, not stopping to think, not stopping to appreciate, not stopping.

Because, you know, I’m busy. Appointments, meals, laundry, shopping, all that.

But what about really living?

The older I get, the more I realize that we are all caught on some terrible treadmill. Work, eat, sleep. Work, eat, sleep. Especially anyone who is involved in social media. I have friends who are so busy creating “content” that I fear they are missing the moments of their lives. I am guilty of this myself. If every flower that blooms and every sunset must be photographed, logged and “liked” by others, have I really experienced it? Are we really living if all we do is create content?

And then there’s everyone who works for a living. Using resources, making more, more, more, selling more, more, more. How much can we create and sell and waste? It’s all destructive.

I do believe that the human experience is a unique one. We do make music and art and wonderful experiences that entertain and amuse and contribute to our processing of the universe. But clogging all of that, is the relentless pursuit of activity, productivity. I must be contributing…every minute of every day. Because that’s how we survive.

But is that really survival? I sew, because it’s such a meditative activity ( and I write about it at edgestitch.com.) Yet more and more I ask myself, “What if I didn’t do so much?” It’s an interesting question to post to yourself. What if you were not always busy doing the things that you are always busy at? How would you be different? How would your day change? Could you survive time spent idle?

Or would we all fall back onto something. Some of us would cook more. Some of us would spend time with loved ones. Some of us would volunteer.

Because I am really asking myself these questions these days. How much more?

How much more do I need to create? How much more do I need to consume? How much do I need to communicate? How much more do I need to validate my existence? Is it destructive? Is it avoidance? Is it helpful? Is it human? And does any of it matter?

I don’t see any answers floating my way. I don’t think there are any answers. I just believe that many people are pushed beyond their limits and unable to discover and make the necessary adjustments.

This year, I am questioning everything. Because if there are no answers, then I damn well better be able to justify my own actions to myself. I invite you to live the same way.