Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living.
Interpretation
Being present in the moment is more valuable than simply being productive.
Maria Popova's quote emphasizes the importance of presence over mere productivity in our lives. It critiques a culture that equates human worth with efficiency and output, suggesting that this obsession with productivity can detract from our ability to experience joy and wonder in life, which are essential for a fulfilling existence.
In practice
During a mindfulness workshop, when discussing the importance of living in the moment.
Our chronic discomfort with ambiguity - which, ironically, is critical to both our creativity and the richness of our lives - leads us to lock down safe, comfortable, familiar interpretations, even if they are only partial representations of or fully disconnected from reality.
Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity.
The future is a convenient place for dreams.
Death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, the physician of him whom medicine cannot cure, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console.
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.
It’s not bad people I fear so much as good people. When a person is sure that he is good, he is nearly hopeless; he gets cruel- he believes in punishment.
Jesus Christ as only an example will crush you. You'll never be able to live up to it. But Jesus Christ as the Lamb will save you.
In the nineteenth century the problem was that God is dead. In the twentieth century the problem is that man is dead.
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