On Productivity

Are we all being forced into the Apollonian?

Productivity is the inverse of consumption, they’re two sides of the same coin. Extreme forms of both are born of anxiety and both are without stillness.

Nietzsche and then Paglia both speak about the dualism and oneness of the Apollonian (structured logical creation/individual achievement) vs the Dionysian (chaotic primal forces/nature). They are two halves that make a whole.

Paglia speaks about the Apollonian as masculine energy and the Dionysian as feminine. She has theorizes that masculine energy feels the urge to create buildings and structures externally because of an inability to create life within the womb/nature.

We’re being encouraged, and in some ways, forced, to feel like we must constantly produce in order to survive in our fields (especially creative ones atm). I recently listened to a podcast where a psychologist said typical masculine depression is expressed in hyper-production, or workaholism. It’s burying one’s self in so much work that one does not need to look internally at their emotions.

Sometimes I wonder if we’re all being forced into Apollonian energy of individualized hyper-production and are being made to experience an expression of “masculine” depression.

Working in such extreme modes of hyper-production and constantly having to adopt new tools removes the ability to sit with a piece and really focus on craft. It also doesn’t allow for enjoyment of the process of creation as so much focus is put on “achieving” the end result. Another task to cross off the list so that we can move on to the next one.

Working like this stems from a form of anxiety, which is fear of the future. All anxiety comes from wanting a sense of control. When we feel the need to show how productive or “interesting” we are online, we’re looking for external validation, which comes from insecurity. I’ve said for awhile that not having social media is a privilege, but being intentional about how we use it is a form of self-care.