Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.

Ease is usually deferred work. The skill that feels effortless now was paid for in hours that nobody watched, and the money that buys a quiet week came from weeks that were not quiet. When something looks easy for someone else, you are seeing the surface of an account they filled earlier.

Two things follow. When you envy someone’s ease, look for the years behind it rather than the talent in front of you. And when today’s work feels like it is producing nothing, remember that this is what filling the account looks like from inside.