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.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
There are some people, who place enormous value on their home and feel that it defines them, that a stain on the carpet is a personal defilement. There are others, and I think I am one of them, who are entirely indifferent to where they live.
Think how different human societies would be if they were based on love rather than justice. But no such societies have ever existed on earth.
When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do.
Every religion is good—every religion is true to him who in his good caution and conscience believes it.
The evils of the body are murder, theft, and adultery; of the tongue, lying, slander, abuse and idle talk; of the mind, covetousness, hatred and error.
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