This, I think, is how we as grownups in the modern world often go
through life. Our version of being good is being productive. Choosing
constant distraction or busyness — two sides of the same coin — we seek
to avoid not boredom and passivity, but end up robbing ourselves of presence, because presence presupposed a detachment from what we look forward to, what is to come, and a mindful groundedness in what is.
This is the cultural pathology of our time: If we stopped doing what we do, we might not know who we are. As I’ve reflected before, to cultivate the art of presence in the age of productivity is no easy feat.
Maria Popova on Adam Phillips
'Why the Capacity for Boredom Is Essential for a Full Life'
