We live within a culture that constantly demands that you hurry up. The spectre of not productivity-maxing is to fall behind, which we’re all assured is awful and must be avoided at all costs. So, while you can still get people to stop and smell the flowers, you now have to give them an optimized regimen (with an affiliate supplement link) and convince them that it will boost their productivity and make them richer and more attractive.
The fitness version is frenetic bouncing around in a hyper-stimulating environment, bludgeoning ourselves into burning as many calories as possible in a who-can-work-harder contest.
These environments are engineered to overwhelm your senses (including your sense of self) because the actual value proposition is so boring and reductive. Related: I’m regularly told by marketing geniuses that I need to build a cult. But can you imagine the workload? The pressure from the CRA and/or the STDs? No thanks.
Even if you’re just quietly minding your own business, you’ll soon hear about a new plough in town; an exciting new technology that will help you get more done in less time, so you’d better get ready to work even longer hours. Just strap it to your body and become one with the plough. As long as you don’t slow down to reflect, you won’t have time to worry about silly little details like whether any of that makes any sense.
It’s an act of rebellion to move slowly or to let things steep… building skill one layer at a time, instead of rushing toward a finished product. To tinker for the joy of tinkering or learn for its own sake. Here, we organize by values, unwilling to compromise them because the ends – as reported by plough manufacturers – will justify the means.
My take on exercise – 20 years into this thing that I’m doing – is that it’s a gentle – even when it doesn’t feel that way – act of self-care. And it’s best supported by sufficient space and safety to tune into physical sensation. That includes the subtle signals that are easily drowned out by more rushed approaches. Greater lifelong resilience is built layer by layer – from bone density to discomfort tolerance. But what will you do with all that marvellous strength and ability?
Whether you speed the plough for personally meaningful reasons, support joyful action within your favourite activities, lift up your friends (literally and figuratively), or find greater peace when you lie down in the field (near the strawberry bushes)… Well, that’s entirely up to you. Don’t feel like you need to hurry up and decide now, though. Set your own pace as you move toward whatever means the most to you. Let everyone else run circles around you if it excites them so much because – slow or fast – you’ll be moving in the direction that matters most.
Keep reading
One essay a week, written by Geoff. No hype.