Importing Importance
How do we, as creatives, determine what's REALLY important?
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This article originally appeared on my personal blog, Clinsights, here.
Editor’s Note: In two days, this post will be locked and is available only to paid members because we don’t want this duplicate content on the open web in a way that might draw traffic away from the original post. You can always read the entire post here.
We all have important things to do. Or, rather, we all think we have important things to do. Where do important ideas come from? Why do we consider some ideas important and others unimportant?
I recently questioned the productivity idea of putting your big, "important" rocks into your schedule first and then allowing the “water” of life to flow around your important rocks. And, in that piece, I turned the idea of what's "important" on its head - I conjectured that perhaps the rocks aren't always as important as we think and perhaps the water is where life truly lies.
As an aside, lest some of these “reflections” sound preachy - I write these musings for myself, as much as for anyone else, and I don't, at this point, truly live these ideals most of the time, but I, like all of us, am struggling through them in an attempt to improve my own life and relationships. So, these pieces are a reminder to myself to try to live in the present and not take myself so seriously. I fail quite often…most of the time, in fact. I often get angry when something comes along and interrupts my day because I have precious "important" things to do. I have work to do! I have decisions to make. I have appointments to keep. I have responsibilities. And how dare the water of life interrupt my important plans!
"Important" is derived from the word "import" (yes, I am looking at definitions, I try to avoid this path most of the time, but it can be useful). “Import” can mean being of consequence, which is what we usually mean when we use the word important - of consequence. But "import" has another meaning: to introduce (an idea) from a different place or context. For example, "new beliefs were often imported by sailors."
How many of our "important" ideas do we "import" from others, from the world itself, or from what we see or hear in the media?
"I must go vote today, it's important," we say.
"I can't spend time with you right now, I have to finish this report, it's important."
"I have to go to this important meeting"
“I have to watch the news, it’s important.”
“Wait a minute, I’m reading an important article.”
“I can’t play with you right now honey, I need to finish some important work.”
We pretend that these ideas that we import into our schedule, that actually come from sources outside of ourselves, are all import-ant.
"ant" (the suffix, not the insect) means "causing an action"
So, when we import an idea from someone else, if we let it, it causes an action in us. So many of our “important things” are literally “imported actions.”
No doubt some of these actions are necessary, perhaps even for our own survival, but are they all important? Are they all of consequence?
I've championed the idea, if not quite actually lived it, of removing some of the big rocks, of removing some of the "important" things to make room for more water. Some of the obvious first things I let go of were time sinks like "watching the news." I've tried off-and-on to let go of some of the other things mentioned above, but forces in my life usually pull me back into some of these "important" activities. Still, the struggle is worth it.
So how does one sort all this out?
I think the trick is to go deep inside yourself and separate out what the mimesis crowd calls "thin desires" (imported from others) from "thick desires" (found within yourself). Those "thick desires" are the ones, for the most part, that truly are of consequence to you. For me, many of those thick desires can usually be summed up with the word CREATE. Many of the other "important" things I import from the world conspire to distract me from that one thick desire. And, as I outlined in Life is in The Water, creating requires spending more time swimming in the waters of life and less time importing "important" ideas from the world.
It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. - Bruce Lee
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Great reminder!
I like your thoughts regarding thick versus thin desires. Being able to parse those out takes some time because they gel and can become indistinguishable as life happens. It’s something I’ve been working on as well.