0. We do not act. There is nothing.
1. Or we act, but that is all. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and nothing more. No attention, to intent, no content, no life.
2. When we are better, we try to act well. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and then there is the way in which we do it. There is attention, at least, but the lack of inattention is not enough. Attention is not purpose, not message, not inspiration.
3. When we are better still, we act for a reason. There is what we do, and how we do it, and why. There is something we hope to accomplish, and a method in which we think it can be done, and then the things we do to see if we are right. But the lack of purposelessness is not enough, either. Purpose is not content, not spirit.
4. When we are nearly ourselves, our actions are also ideas. We act not only in service of a particular goal, but of a story in which our purposes are explained. Our actions describe a way in which the world might be different. That is almost enough.
5. And when we are completely ourselves, what we do originates from a spark inside of us. The story is the expression of a divinity, and the purpose serves a story we not only write but believe, and our diligence is thus spiritual instead of mechanical, and our actions are worthy of our moments and our breath.
5. Every fully human action begins in Anima. Every action, from the epic to the occupational, should be founded in the immanence of self. Morality is the steadfast refusal to allow ourselves to inhabit only part of our nature. Whatever you do, do it as if you are you, as if you will be accountable to yourself for every moment of this life, forever.
4. Art is the expression of Anima. Everything you do should express something you believe. There is no empty action, there are only the actions that tell the stories we mean, and the actions that tell stories we didn't consider. Consider your stories.
3. Design is the method of Art, of how we span the difference between the world without our Art and the world that is touched by it. We must understand the context into which we act, and know how we hope to change it. This is neither abstract nor optional, and is part of the conception, not the implementation. Understand before you plan, and plan before you act.
2. Craft is the unfolding of Design. We carry ourselves into stories and plans, and then into work that is ennobled by us, and ennobles us. We act to change the world, and the world is important and deserves our care. These are the words of the story we hope to tell about how we could be. Let your smallest details evoke the grandest revelation.
1. Production is the translation of Craft into patience. In the end, there is always what is done. There is waiting, and repetition, and correction, and walking across rooms and writing down numbers, and starting over. Know what your work requires, and refuse to resent it.
0. And here is the most critical and pressing permanent truth of the appearance of good and evil in daily human effort: It is impossible to assemble this moral structure of action in reverse. You cannot, no matter how sorely and casually and frequently you are tempted, start with Production. It is pointless to demand that unmotivated actions be informed by Craft, inane to attempt to interpolate Design into unsolicited diligence, idiotic to hope to derive Art from undirected intents, and profoundly offensive to try to stipulate something in which to believe. Every fully human action begins in Anima, and evolves in these irreducible stages. Not only is there no shorter way, there is no other way at all. To act otherwise is destruction. To act otherwise is to consume moments and breath and return inevitably to nothing, bringing the world with you.
1. Or we act, but that is all. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and nothing more. No attention, to intent, no content, no life.
2. When we are better, we try to act well. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and then there is the way in which we do it. There is attention, at least, but the lack of inattention is not enough. Attention is not purpose, not message, not inspiration.
3. When we are better still, we act for a reason. There is what we do, and how we do it, and why. There is something we hope to accomplish, and a method in which we think it can be done, and then the things we do to see if we are right. But the lack of purposelessness is not enough, either. Purpose is not content, not spirit.
4. When we are nearly ourselves, our actions are also ideas. We act not only in service of a particular goal, but of a story in which our purposes are explained. Our actions describe a way in which the world might be different. That is almost enough.
5. And when we are completely ourselves, what we do originates from a spark inside of us. The story is the expression of a divinity, and the purpose serves a story we not only write but believe, and our diligence is thus spiritual instead of mechanical, and our actions are worthy of our moments and our breath.
5. Every fully human action begins in Anima. Every action, from the epic to the occupational, should be founded in the immanence of self. Morality is the steadfast refusal to allow ourselves to inhabit only part of our nature. Whatever you do, do it as if you are you, as if you will be accountable to yourself for every moment of this life, forever.
4. Art is the expression of Anima. Everything you do should express something you believe. There is no empty action, there are only the actions that tell the stories we mean, and the actions that tell stories we didn't consider. Consider your stories.
3. Design is the method of Art, of how we span the difference between the world without our Art and the world that is touched by it. We must understand the context into which we act, and know how we hope to change it. This is neither abstract nor optional, and is part of the conception, not the implementation. Understand before you plan, and plan before you act.
2. Craft is the unfolding of Design. We carry ourselves into stories and plans, and then into work that is ennobled by us, and ennobles us. We act to change the world, and the world is important and deserves our care. These are the words of the story we hope to tell about how we could be. Let your smallest details evoke the grandest revelation.
1. Production is the translation of Craft into patience. In the end, there is always what is done. There is waiting, and repetition, and correction, and walking across rooms and writing down numbers, and starting over. Know what your work requires, and refuse to resent it.
0. And here is the most critical and pressing permanent truth of the appearance of good and evil in daily human effort: It is impossible to assemble this moral structure of action in reverse. You cannot, no matter how sorely and casually and frequently you are tempted, start with Production. It is pointless to demand that unmotivated actions be informed by Craft, inane to attempt to interpolate Design into unsolicited diligence, idiotic to hope to derive Art from undirected intents, and profoundly offensive to try to stipulate something in which to believe. Every fully human action begins in Anima, and evolves in these irreducible stages. Not only is there no shorter way, there is no other way at all. To act otherwise is destruction. To act otherwise is to consume moments and breath and return inevitably to nothing, bringing the world with you.