About 'Productivity'

A few weeks ago I ate at a restaurant called Feast of Merit, and they caught me off guard a wee bit. Which is unusual for food.

Their inspiration came from (and I'm paraphrasing here) some of the peoples of Northern India. When a person achieved some level of perceived wealth or success, they would host a feast for everyone in the village. This feast would last until all of the host's assets and wealth are consumed, distributed or liquidated, was the term I think they used, sometimes lasting for weeks. Once all of their assets are gone they receive a golden cloak and have garnered the peak of respect from all people. They would then continue with their life, but starting again from scratch, having gained utmost respect from everyone.

This shocked me. Why would you work so hard just to give everything away for nothing? Which then disgusted me with myself - What do you mean 'nothing'? What could possibly be more valuable than having unquestioned respect and admiration by literally everyone that you know? Also, imagine the party if the richest guy in town said to EVERYONE "Hey, come on over and help me get rid of all this stuff! Yeah, there must be about 200L of top shelf liquor, plus the wine cellar. And the Audi's out back too - watch out for the motorcycles around the pool when you're getting it out.". There are films (granted, not necessarily good ones) made about such things and how amazing they are.

This got me thinking logistics. What would it take to get everyone I know into the same place at the same time? This past week I've missed two birthday celebrations and this weekend I'm leaving a conference to attend a wedding, and missing another wedding at the same time. And others aren't where I am because of other commitments etc.. It just wouldn't happen.

So what are we all doing? Running around and doing things that are 'more important to us'? Working? Tending to "prior commitments" (which might range from Yoga to minor surgery to doing laundry whilst drinking wine)? It feels to me like we are all always running around with things to do: being productive. Productivity is like crack for 'busy people' who, let's be honest here, really thrive on feeling important (Exhibit A, your Honour: This Guy).

I wonder what we would all do with our time if we knew that, at some point maybe quite soon, we would be giving everything away and starting from scratch. I mean I do my fair share of things for free, but giving away everything?! Imagine the rush. All that's left is me and what I can do with the environment I'm in. Everything I have, do, and will do is because of my own capability as an individual. That would need to be be productive.