Think of the way that life really can become lifeless. You know what it’s like: rise, commute, work, lunch, work some more, maybe have a beer or go to the gym, watch TV. For a while the routine is nurturing and stabilizing; it is comfortable in its predictability. But soon the days seem to stretch out in an infinite line behind and before you. And eventually you are withering away inside them. They are not just devoid of meaning but ruthless in their insistence that they are that way. The life you are living announces it is no longer alive.He goes on to suggest strategies for re-capturing vitality that do and do not work. Casanovan self-indulgence and Kantian dutifulness do not. Engaged presence does, by knitting time and omitting distraction. "When you really feel alive, your past, your present and your future somehow make sense together as the unity they have always promised to be. I sometimes feel truly alive, for instance, when I am teaching my students..."
Me too, sometimes. Resolution for the New Year: many times more.
