Are our activities a means to an end, or is the goal the activity itself?
many thanks to Bohdan Turok for allowing me to use this picture
a three minutes read
I recently had a fascinating discussion about art with a friend, a formal psychoanalyst with remarkable skills in music, film, photography, and who has won many short film festival awards. He’s working on many projects, some of which he’ll likely never release publicly. Although commonplace in artistic fields such as photography, where not every image is a masterpiece, this approach contradicts our modern, efficiency-driven lives, which prioritize specialised work and time management. Since a significant portion of artistic pursuits might appear futile, it’s natural to wonder why we continue.
I’m wondering, how much of what we do is just for the sake of doing it, and how much is for other reasons like money or likes?
Does knowing this difference matter?
Reflecting on a quote often linked to Confucius, it says: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” In my view, recognizing this difference is crucial. Essentially, doing more things for their own sake makes our lives more meaningful, satisfied, and fulfilled. Doing a lot of things motivated by external factors such as consequences, constraints, seeking validation, or fear of abandonment, may push us towards depression or anxiety. To summarize, striking a balance between these two kinds of activities is essential.
I think it’s not feasible to expect to do only activities we love and do them purely for their own sake. For example, we frequently tackle chores like cleaning, paying bills, and administrative tasks—activities instrumental in achieving a positive home environment, hygiene, and peace of mind. That’s just how life goes. But the main point is: what about our free-time activities—hobbies, passion projects, or side hustles?
To what extent are we engaging in these activities for external validation versus considering them as goals in themselves?
By considering which activities we would continue doing even if nobody knew, we can find the answer to this question. I hope your answer will cover many different activities. If not, it’s not a problem at all. We can find these activities by following a few steps.
We can try to remain constant curiosity, openness to learning new things, and perseverance despite immediate results not being seen.
We could explore a range of activities to determine which ones stimulate our skills, interests, and generate excitement.
We might explore the activities that induce a state of flow, as defined by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.
After identifying these activities, incorporate them into your daily program.
I hope these steps will increase the variety of colorful activities in your life.
