Because It Matters

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Every professional writer has an editor because no writer is perfect. And because the writing matters.

Every aspiring athlete has a trainer because she can’t pay attention to the mechanics of her backhand while she’s returning the volley. And because the game matters.

Every serious student has a teacher because a teacher integrates fragmented information and knowledge in a transformative, human way. And because the learning matters.

Why doesn’t every person have a coach when it matters? 

Perhaps the value proposition doesn’t appeal to some people. Perhaps some people don’t value greater self-knowledge or awareness or perspective or integrative clarity or constructive challenge from someone who genuinely cares about their success.

Obviously, it can’t be about the money since coaching is not that expensive, and since we always have money for the things that matter most to us.

Or is perhaps the reason a terribly sad one, that some people just don’t think they or their contribution matter very much at all, that their lives or work just aren’t that important? 

These are not rhetorical questions. Your thoughts in response are welcome.

The Destruction of Distraction

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T. S. Eliot described modern people as “distracted from distraction by distraction”. It’s one of the thickest obstacles between the present and a better future. 

Practical advice on clearing the mind abounds. In recent years, meditation has surged in popularity. But a motivational vision or image of an undistracted mind can sometimes be just as helpful as all the practical advice in the world: 

“When the intellect is in…a state of equilibrium, it searches out its enemies like a hound searching for a hare in a thicket. But the hound searches in order to get food, the intellect in order to destroy.”

—Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness

One of the mind’s primary functions is to see the world. But to see the world clearly, it needs first to watch itself for the entrance or presence of enemies that can disrupt its clarity. We can’t see very clearly before the destruction of distraction.

Nothing to Lose

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Elon Musk recently announced he would be selling almost everything he owns, including all his houses.ª The decision appears to be motivated by concern that his many possessions could make him a target of the poor, and he’d rather not deal with the distractions such conflict would bring.

In an economic downturn induced by a viral pandemic, when involuntary cost-cutting is a necessity both for individuals and organizations, it’s worth remembering there are benefits to voluntary renunciation and frugality:

Men such as Elijah and Elisha became what they were through their courage, perseverance and indifference to the things of this life. They practiced frugality; by being content with a little, they reached a state in which they wanted nothing, and so came to resemble the bodiless angels. As a result, though outwardly insignificant and unnoticed, they became stronger than the greatest of earthly rulers; they spoke more boldly to crowned monarchs than any king does to his own subjects.

—Ascetic Discourse of St. Neilos

As the economic carnage wrought by COVID-19 becomes clearer and deeper, others may react like Musk. But perhaps there may emerge a different sort of people, who are motivated to practice voluntary frugality, able to distinguish between their needs and desires, and who through their dispassionate detachment gain a boldness and power that money can’t buy.

ªhttps://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/elon-musk-billionaire-joe-rogan-interview-grimes-baby-selling-house-possessions-a9504691.html