Parker Palmer, who spoke today at PopTech with Krista Tippett and Courtney Martin, shares these words of Thomas Merton at his blog—
"There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist...most easily succumbs: activism and over-work. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.
The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work... It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)...work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful."
Tiffany Shlain seems to be making the same point in a different way in a new video series, The Future Starts Here.