We’ve Brought All the Noise With Us
Lately, I’ve noticed an interesting theme showing up from a few different directions.
I was sitting at a spa in Mexico recently, about halfway through ‘Slow Productivity’ by Cal Newport, when I looked up and saw the scene above. I couldn’t help but laugh, because I reached for my phone and snapped the picture.
Yes… I realize the irony.
That’ll make more sense in a minute.
Then today I read Carl Rohde’s recent post about recovery becoming one of the next frontiers in longevity. Right after that came my good buddy Greg Scheinman’s latest piece, ‘The Thankless Grind’.
Different people. Different perspectives.
Yet they all seemed to be pointing toward the same question.
Not…“How do we get more done?” But rather…“What is all of this doing to us?”
It made me wonder if we’ve quietly reached a place where we’ve normalized being exhausted.
Not just physically. But also mentally, and emotionally.
Constantly connected. Always available. Always “on.”
Somewhere along the way, being busy stopped being a circumstance and became an identity.
Almost a badge of honor.
For years, saying “I’m slammed” or “I’m exhausted” subtly communicated something else.
I’m important. People need me. I’m building something. I am relevant.
And maybe, for a while, that was true.
But now I wonder if we’ve simply built lives that require an entire industry to help us recover from them.
Cold plunges. Saunas. Red-light therapy. Sleep trackers.
I’ve tried many of them myself, and some of them are genuinely valuable. This isn’t an argument against recovery.
It’s a question about why recovery has become so necessary.
Maybe it isn’t because we’re weak.
Maybe it’s because we’ve eliminated every natural pause from our lives.
We don’t wait anymore. We scroll.
We don’t sit quietly. We reach for our phones.
Which brings me back to that photo.
Here I was, sitting in a place specifically designed for rest and recovery…
…and I had brought my phone into the experience…..Again!
We’ve become so accustomed to constant connection that we don’t even notice we’re doing it.
This image isn’t a criticism about the woman or them as a couple.
It is about my own self deprecating criticism lol
And maybe in that way it’s about a lot of us.
We’re becoming incredibly sophisticated at recovering…
…without asking why we’re so depleted in the first place.
Recovery matters. Carl is absolutely right about that. But I wonder if the bigger opportunity isn’t simply learning how to recover better.
Maybe it’s learning how to live in a way that requires less recovering.
Because shouldn’t the goal be to build a life we don’t constantly need to escape from?
Shouldn’t it be to build one we’re fully present enough to enjoy.
So, maybe recovery isn’t the trend here and instead it’s the symptom.
What if the real question isn’t “how we recover”…but is “what have we built / are building that requires so much recovering in the first place?”
Freedom Always,
Raad
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Raad Ghantous is a designer by trade and a reinvention architect by choice. Raised internationally and shaped by decades in hospitality and residential design, he now leads The Raad Life, a platform for seasoned leaders who refuse to coast into midlife quietly. Through media, live gatherings, and curated collaborations, Raad explores identity after success and the freedom to consciously design your next chapter. Find us at TheRAADLife.com.
