A life can be rich in meaning while poor in spectacle.
REFLECTION
WHAT THIS MEANS
Spectacle is what a life looks like at speed, from far away. Meaning is what it contains up close, and the two frequently have no relationship, since the things that generate spectacle are rarely the things that generate substance. A quiet life can be enormously full.
Be careful about using spectacle as a proxy when assessing your own life or anyone else’s. Ask what is actually inside it. The answer is often unavailable to the kind of looking that spectacle rewards.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What in your quiet life would be hard to photograph?
MORE IN MEANING & PERSPECTIVE
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.