I’ve begun reading a paper called “Hamlet’s Blackberry,” by William Powers. In it, Powers tackles the current illusion of importance we all maintain by remaining very busy. He points out the dilemma we face: busyness doesn’t create happiness.
“We tend to think of life in outward terms, as a series of events that unfold in the physical world we all inhabit, as perceived through the senses,” Powers writes. “However, we experience those events inwardly, in our thoughts and feelings, and it’s this interior version of the world, what one leading neuroscientist has dubbed the “movie-in-the-brain,” that is reality for each of us. This part of our life goes by different names: mind, spirit, soul, self, psyche, consciousness. Whatever you call it, it’s this essential ‘you’ and ‘me’ that’s squirming under the burden of too much to do and think about.”
Okay, but is that such a big problem? Why not just be very busy, while changing one’s attitude? Powers writes:
“It’s tricky generalizing about something as broad and subjective as the quality of our consciousness, but there is a problem with extreme busyness that attitude alone can’t fix. When it comes to creating a happy, fulfilling interior life, a “movie-in-the-brain” that makes you want to stand up and applaud, one factor matters more than any other: depth.”
So depth is what helps us be happy and fulfilled. And seeking depth is actually quite simple. According to Powers:
“It can be anything at all—a person, a place, a thing, an idea, or a sensation. Everything that happens to us all day long, every sight and sound, every personal encounter, every thought that crosses our minds is a candidate for depth. We’re constantly sifting among these options, deciding where to deploy our attention. Most float around in the periphery of our thoughts and remain there, but a select few wind up in the mental spotlight. We train our perceptual and cognitive resources on one conversation, one fascinating idea, one task to the exclusion of all others. This is where depth begins.”
As a writer, busyness defeats the depth in my work. The antidote: Schedule time to rest, to walk, to go deep on a book or into a conversation. Get away from mind-numbing busyness and really live.
And what’s up with Hamlet’s Blackberry? I haven’t read that far. Stay tuned….
Photo: CC Public Domain