Nourishing the Soul

Do you ever find yourself asking, “Why am I doing this?” How do you answer when someone asks if you had a good day? Do you find yourself reviewing the tasks you accomplished? If so, you are certainly not alone.

Our society is hell-bent on productivity as the highest virtue; a sentiment that is reflected in countless books, blogs, podcasts, and meme’s about efficiency, time management, and productivity. Yet, the ancient greeks understood things a bit differently. In fact, Aristotle’s perspective deviates from these sentiments that places productivity and achievement at the center of our lives. In contrast, he emphasized the importance of leisure in defining who we are and what it means to live a fulfilling life.

Sure, work is important. However, as Aristotle aptly points out, work is a means to an end. Although some people do derive significant meaning from work, generally speaking, we work so that we can make money to pay for what we need, which is essential. In contrast to work, leisure is something done for its own sake; it is an end in itself. This places leisure at a new level of importance. As an end in itself, we engage in leisure for its inherent value.

In our modern culture, work and productivity take center stage and often overshadow leisure, which is seen primarily as relaxation. However, Aristotle viewed leisure as the opportunity to nurture the soul and engage more deeply in our human experience. This sounds a lot different from our contemporary views of leisure or a hobby, which is generally viewed as something to fill space and take up free time, much different from nurturing the soul. In fact, a hobby might even be viewed as a waste of time or something reserved for retirement.

Once we overcome the pressure for productivity and actually find time for leisure, we are faced with another problem. What do we actually want to do with our time? Here we come upon questions of meaning and purpose or as Aristotle puts it, “nourishing the soul.”

Outside of our everyday responsibilities, a good place to start might be to ask yourself what you want to do, rather than what you think you should be doing.

If you think you should be engaged in a particular task, why is that the case? Where do these expectations come from? Does it come from a place of personal desire or a place of social or familial pressure? Does it come from beliefs about yourself or concerns about how others view you? Is it a compensation for feeling of guilt or insecurities? What is your motivation? Ultimately, is this activity something you value? Is it an end in itself or something done for its own sake?

Each decision we make in how we use our time eliminates all other choices. Given we have a finite time on earth, it makes sense to reflect on such decisions.

In the end, Aristotle supports the view of a balanced life, wherein there is time for both work/ productivity and leisure. However, a lack of leisure or time to nourish your soul and engage in tasks that hold meaning and purpose arguably distances us from living a fulfilling life and can lead to a sense of purposelessness and burnout.

Dr. Thomas Lindquist, Psy.D.

Licensed Psychologist

Contact: t.lindquist.psyd@gmail.com