Deep, thoughtful writer Maria Popova is one of those people for me. She celebrated 18 years of publishing The Marginalian last week (formerly Brain Pickings) and offered 18 pieces of wisdom that she’s learned along the way as she uses writing as a means of metabolizing her life, just like I do. I love this quote from her in last week’s posting: “Somewhere along the way, you realize that no one will teach you how to live your own life — not your parents or your idols, not the philosophers or the poets, not your liberal arts education or your twelve-step program, not church or therapy or Tolstoy.”
For many of us, we live our lives with the barest of margins to explore and be curious. Our overstuffed calendars, joyless pursuit of happiness, and obligation obsession (that’s a new alliteration for me that I kind of like) all give us very little margin for spontaneity, immediacy, or intimacy. I appreciate that Maria’s twice-weekly postings remind me of the marginalia on our search for meaning. I wanted to share with you my favorite three lessons Maria offered (out of the 18 in the post):
Don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively. Fight it in yourself, for this ungainly beast lies dormant in each of us, and counter it in those you love and engage with, by modeling its opposite. Cynicism often masquerades as nobler faculties and dispositions, but is categorically inferior. Unlike that great Rilkean life-expanding doubt, it is a contracting force. Unlike critical thinking, that pillar of reason and necessary counterpart to hope, it is inherently uncreative, unconstructive, and spiritually corrosive. Life, like the universe itself, tolerates no stasis — in the absence of growth, decay usurps the order. Like all forms of destruction, cynicism is infinitely easier and lazier than construction. There is nothing more difficult yet more gratifying in our society than living with sincerity and acting from a place of largehearted, constructive, rational faith in the human spirit, continually bending toward growth and betterment. This remains the most potent antidote to cynicism. Today, especially, it is an act of courage and resistance.
Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit — it’s a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion. Who are the people, ideas, and books that magnify your spirit? Find them, hold on to them, and visit them often. Use them not only as a remedy once spiritual malaise has already infected your vitality but as a vaccine administered while you are healthy to protect your radiance.
Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living — for, as Annie Dillard memorably put it, “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
-Chip
P.S. This summer, Dr. Mark Hyman interviewed me on his The Doctor’s Farmacy podcast which is a precursor to our upcoming workshop Nov 17-22 in Baja that we’re co-leading “Young Forever: The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life” which is getting close to being full.
