Welcome to The Purpose Memo, a newsletter where I give you ideas for wrestling your life back from digital technology and living a principled life.
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Read time: 5 minutes
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
Henry David Thoreau
African Wisdom for the Chronically Busy
There’s an Africa proverb I often return to.
During the peak of colonialism, the British began moving into the heart of Africa. Among those involved was an English traveler who needed help navigating a hasty journey into the African jungle.
Soon after he landed on the continent, he hired some local hands to assist with his luggage and supplies. The journey was exhausting—every arduous mile was taken on foot.
Once the first day of traveling came to an end, the traveler and the porters settled in for a night’s sleep. Some hours passed, and the sun began to rise. The traveler awoke eager to continue onward.
But he soon noticed the porters would not accompany him. Incredulous, he beckoned them with all manner of fervor to join him, but they would not.
Finally, he stopped and asked, “Why won’t you move?”
The porters replied, “We are waiting for our souls to catch up to our bodies.”
The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and hearing “Busy!” after asking an American how they are doing.
There are few things I’ve grown more convinced of than this: chronic busyness damages the soul.
It’s a great irony that busyness emerges in the pursuit of productivity, which is the very thing that suffers most under the oppression of a marginless schedule. An air-tight calendar costs you far more than your perceived loss from the “idleness” you’re dodging.
Busyness is a trap to be avoided, not a badge to be worn with honor.
Embracing this perspective will radically change your life.
Keeping theme with the frantic pace and compounding to-do lists of the holiday season, the next few newsletters will focus on both calendar busyness and mental busyness—the two avenues through which we become ensnared.
For over five years, I’ve been collecting the best wisdom that exists on the topic. I’m excited to share my absolute favorite pieces with you: ancient, modern, everything in between.
And as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, our devices play a pivotal role in the busyness of our current era.
Today is a short preview of what’s coming your way soon.
“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so!”
May Sarton, novelist
Lesson: Build empty days into your schedule.
Constant movement from one thing to the next at a breakneck speed is no way to live.
Interestingly, the Judeo-Christian tradition includes a very specific practice for empty days: a weekly Sabbath. The salience of this discipline comes from it’s origin story. After six days of creating the universe, God rested.
If God himself opted for an “empty day,” perhaps we might consider it.
Our souls need to catch up to our bodies.
I’ll leave you with a poem by William Henry Davies, written 100 years before the digital revolution.
“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in the grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this is, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.”
Soundbites:
The happiest people understand busyness as a trap, not a badge.
Empty days are far more necessary than they are “costly.”
Thanks for reading! Two last notes:
Reply to this email with any questions, comments, or feedback. I’ll respond.
These ideas have changed my life and I feel a responsibility to pass them along. Take a second to think of someone who might benefit from reading this piece. Forward it along and start a conversation.
Have a Merry Christmas!
PW