You are not your output, and yet…we are absolutely defined by what we put out.
Because our society enthrones money, power, and success, it’s entirely understandable that the backlash around the fragility (and moral cost!) of this identity, is to say: we are not that!
But let’s take achievement entirely out of the equation and imagine a world where the stage-side seats saved for billionaires are replaced by everyday people, people who pick up the trash along the highway, help carry groceries to the car, and serve food at soup kitchens.
Maybe we do want to be a world where we hold ourselves to our output, our fruit, the good that we bear - that we would say we’re absolutely defined by how we occupy space, how we choose to spend our time, the words that we form, the actions we take.
Maybe then we can confidently say: we are our output, the kindness, compassion, empathy, humility, honesty, and love we put out into the world. Maybe we begin there.
