Socrates said “To do is to be”
Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t know exactly what he meant when he said it (I can’t claim to have been there and know for certain), but when I heard this it definitely impacted on me.
There are a couple different meanings for this phrase in my head.
Number 1 – what you do is what you are. That is to say, if you (whether as a job or just because) help people with careers you are a career counselor. If you run (and that’s what you spend most of your time doing – training and such) then you are a runner. If you program code you are a programmer.
This is a very literal take on the phrase and as much as it does make some sense I think it’s a little too static for me.
Number 2 – your behavior defines who you are. Your actions are the end result of all of your internal processes and hence what you end up “doing” is a direct reflection on who you are.
This is more to my liking.
In my mind I had always thought the reverse: To Be is to Do.
What this meant for me was that our beings must come first and our actions will flow naturally out of that. I don’t know if there is really any difference between this and the reverse. I have times when I think that they are the same and times when I think they are completely different. The difference I think is sort of like the old riddle – which came first the chicken or the egg. Is it our being that defines our doing or our doing that defines our being? I’ll let you decide which way you come out on that argument.
There is one final definition (in my mind – there could be others) though that I think is also extremely important.
Number 3 – to take action is the defining role of existence. Meaning if we do not take meaningful action, where are not living. I suppose if we go back to definition number 1 for a moment: if we do nothing, we are nothing. That sounds a bit harsh, I’ll admit, but to a certain extent it is true. If you are not taking action you are not living your life.
Whatever meaning you take away from this post and this phrase, I have always loved this particular quote and will continue to ponder over it.
Oh those ancient Greeks, still making us think today.
Until the next time – keep laughing – and doing … and being.