Aliveness: Reframing Productivity

" Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. "

Howard Thurman

It’s liberation from the idea that we can self-optimize ourselves to the point of not needing anyone else. That if we work hard enough to survive in a competitive economy, we’ll be able to buy, order, or summon anything we might need within 24 hours, and that is somehow progress. That instead of asking for help and support from the people and frien

“ Internal Resonance: How did it feel to write and publish this? Did it make me feel alive, both intellectually and somatically? Did it feel like something no one else but me could have created? Did it feel true to who I am, and who I’m becoming? Did the content of this writing matter to the deepest parts of me, beneath all of the cultural stories

It’s important to note that life wasn’t always like that!

To the contrary, we only very recently – in a tiny, tiny, recent part of humanity’s history – began to choose the more productive, the more efficient way of doing something over the more meaningful, dignifying, sacred, loving, or enjoyable one.

Need some evidence?! Well, simply look at old fur

" Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. "

Howard Thurman