Affirmation: Productivity is Not My Purpose

Productivity is not your purpose.

I repeat. Productivity is not your purpose.

“In a consumerist, capitalist society, it is easy to forget that our purpose is not to be productive.”

I recently attended an event at which I didn’t know most of the people. After sharing my name, almost every person asked the same question, “what do you do?” I left the experience feeling so frustrated that this inquiry is a normal part of adult interactions when there are so many more interesting and informative questions we can ask people to get to know them. I could count on one hand how many times, if any, someone has asked me “what are your interests?” or simply prompted me with, “tell me about yourself” or “I’d love to know more about you.”

I feel similarly about adult to child interactions. Why not ask children what makes them happy? What do they enjoy doing? What are they passionate about? What would they like to share with us? What interesting things have they done recently?  Not what grade they are in and what they want to be when they grow up.

In a consumerist, capitalist society, it is easy to forget that our purpose is not to be productive. None of us are not what we do, and we never need to prove our worth. Your output and your income are not who you are nor are they an indicator of your value. 

As we enter this New Year’s season, companies will do everything they can to remind us that we are not enough. We don’t own enough, we don’t look good enough, we aren’t smart enough or fit enough or wealthy enough. Because as long as we fear our own imperfections and doubt our adequacy, they can sell us whatever they want.

Don’t listen, my friend. You are perfectly and completely whole as you are. You are always growing and evolving and you will never achieve mastery over it all, and that is a beautiful thing. How boring life would be if we were all equally proficient at everything and had nothing else to learn.

So, remember: productivity is not your purpose and you are so much more than a summation of your identifiable achievements. Rest in your worthiness.