What distinguishes activity from passivity?
Activity typically unfolds in these five stages, each one informed by clear intention
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The central claim of this newsletter is that not everything that looks like activity is activity because, more often than not, its reactivity - activity that’s a subset of passivity because it doesn’t connect with anything real in the person engaging in the activity. It’s activity without an actor, performance without a performer.
So how do you distinguish activity from reactivity, in yourself and others?
Activity normally unfolds in the following five stages, each one informed by clear intention. And it’s important to note that not all activity even looks like activity. Introspection, for instance, is almost indistinguishable from passivity when seen from the outside, but is one of the most profound activities human beings are capable of.
Introspection
Introspection takes two forms. The first is what we commonly think of as introspection - looking inside ourselves to identify who we are and what we want. The second is what we commonly think of as empathy, but what the Austrian psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut described as ‘vicarious introspection’ - looking inside others to identify who they are and what they want. These two kinds of introspection are the means by which we bring ourselves into the world in a meaningful way. When either one of these poles is missing, we risk becoming either disconnected from others or disconnected from ourselves.
Assessment
Once we have a handle on who we are and what we want, and who others are and what they want, we’re in a position to devise a plan of action, which necessitates assessment. This is itself an important kind of activity, and may involve considerations of time, money, and any other constraints on the viability of an action plan. Assessment may lead back to introspection if no viable plan emerges or, if a viable plan of action does emerge, on to commitment.Commitment
Action without commitment risks not being action for long. Any plan of action, no matter how well aligned it is with the results of introspection, and no matter how viable it is assessed in advance to be, will not unfold in the exact way it’s initially conceived. Commitment is necessary to ensure that, even when the plan fails to unfold as anticipated, it still progresses. While not looking like much of anything from the outside, commitment is one of the most significant actions a person can take. It’s orienting (by committing to one thing you’re loosening your commitment to other things), risky (you may commit to the wrong thing, backing the wrong horse), and requires discernment (how much commitment is the right amount of commitment - are you over-committing and becoming pigheaded or undercommitting and becoming weak-willed).
Engagement
With commitment to a plan that aligns with the results of introspection you’re ready to act in the traditional sense of the word i.e. engage in visible behaviours designed to achieve specific outcomes. This is the least problematic of any of the stages discussed so far, but only because it’s grounded in the results of the previous stages. When engagement in an activity is not grounded in the results of introspection, has no viable plan underwriting it, and is lacking in commitment, it’s likely to be unfocused, purposeless and ineffective - which is to say, like most actions undertaken in the world today.
Reflection
A plan of action designed to achieve specific outcomes over time will either succeed, partially succeed, or fail, and reflection is necessary to track progress. Does the current reality accurately reflect the vision contained in the original plan of action? If not, why not? If so, is it time to engage in a new round of introspection, assessment, commitment, and engagement? What are the lessons learned from this round and how can these be leveraged in the next round?
What I hope is evident in this account of the five stages of activity is that clear intention is present at every stage. That’s what distinguishes activity from passivity. For this reason, if you’re struggling with passivity, the first step out of it is not to ‘get into action,’ doing something, anything to avoid being passive - but rather, to turn inward, to clarify your intentions through the active practice of introspection.