The Faculty of Effort Pt. 3
Sunday, November 17
For today, Nate Soares’ Rest In Motion:
Many people I meet seem to think that they need to take damage whenever they're working, and then only heal it when they rest. While they're studying, they're taking damage. While they're at a large social event, they're taking damage. While they're doing their job, they're taking damage. They seem to think they "should" be able to be at home doing nothing, and so when they're not, they're taking damage. They think that the ground state is a resting state, a state of inaction, and so whenever they're acting, this is a deviation from the default, and it requires effort to maintain.
I say, the ground state is in motion. The privileged state is not a frozen state. Most of us wouldn't want to just lie in bed doing nothing forever, anyway. The easiest state to maintain isn't a motionless state, it's the state where you're out there doing what needs doing at a sustainable pace. That's the ground state, that's the state that requires no effort to maintain. Anything less leads to boredom, and it's boredom that's taxing.
…
Make sure you're not taking damage just for moving. If any state of being is going to wear you down, then I suggest that you feel pressure whenever you start to move too fast or too slow. Take damage when your life is too boring and nothing's getting done, and take damage when your life is moving at an unsustainable pace: but don't take damage when you're moving through the streams at a steady clip.
I think there’s one element Soares misses, which is that it’s not just the pace of the work that determines whether it’s restful or straining, healing or damaging, positive or negative — but it’s also the nature of the work.
I’ve always been a little skeptical of the idea that everyone should, or moreover is entitled to, simply follow their dreams and do what they love. There’s a lot of hard, unglamorous work to do, and someone has to do it.
But we can still try to strike a balance in our own lives. If your work is draining you, it’s worth checking in to see if you have any wiggle room to pivot — to change it in small ways — toward something that feels a bit more restful, even while you’re in motion.