Excerpt: Earlier today, I went upstairs after what felt like a half day of spinning my wheels on tasks that I either couldn’t complete, didn’t complete, or forgot that I was even trying to complete. Walking by my wife, I said, “I feel intensely unproductive.” She said, “Do you need to rest?” I said, “Of course, not. I have too many things to do.”

And then I went back downstairs to spin my wheels some more.

Because, at least if I’m spinning my wheels I feel like I’m doing something.

I realize that is a laughable statement, but likely also relatable.

I also realize, as I briefly pause my day to write this short essay (because I wanted to at least check something off of my to-do list), that I have had one moment after another today that I actually have treasured, noticed, seen, heard, and embraced.

Many of those moments are connected to my interactions today with fellow human beings who I don’t require to be intensely productive to be my friends. In fact, I really enjoy my friends who are not caught up in being intensely productive and who actually enjoy the intense unproductiveness of days and even seasons as a way of balancing themselves in a world that gives us plenty of chances to spin the wheels of our lives like madmen, not go anywhere at all, and miss all the meaning that was waiting for us right here all along.

Perhaps, I am just worn out and tired of being productive, but I think that my heart is trying to get my attention and is simply unwilling to be settled until I listen.