I know what you mean about both getting so focused on some kind of transcendental meaning or purpose that you miss the meaningful stuff right in front of you and about getting overly serious about such big questions. That is one thing that I think Buddhism and other eastern traditions get right - the focus on being present in the moment and recognizing the interest and value of the here and now - all of life is made up of such moments, after all!
And yes, The Decline of the West is indeed massive. Two roughly 600-page books, and the style is not what you would call "approachable". Still, it's fascinating, and it's reinforcing what I keep trying to remind myself about classic, influential books - reading it for yourself offers a lot more than just reading summaries. I somehow keep being surprised by this.
As for how do I have time, I'd say that I never have as much time as I'd like, there's always stuff I wish I could be working on! That being said, I have a few things that help. For one, we're lucky enough to be able to afford daycare for my daughter. For two, my job is quite flexible and conducive to reading (I have a teaching-only position at a university).
Otherwise, I'd say it helps that I have spent some time thinking about how I want to use my time and how to do so effectively. I got very into self-help and productivity stuff for awhile when I was a consultant (these days "self-help" just seems like the shallowest parts of occultism without the deeper stuff that makes it worthwhile). So, I try to make sure to do the stuff that's most important to me first, and then fit the other stuff around it. Sometimes that means less-important stuff slips a bit, which is not great, but mostly it seems to work pretty well for me.
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And yes, The Decline of the West is indeed massive. Two roughly 600-page books, and the style is not what you would call "approachable". Still, it's fascinating, and it's reinforcing what I keep trying to remind myself about classic, influential books - reading it for yourself offers a lot more than just reading summaries. I somehow keep being surprised by this.
As for how do I have time, I'd say that I never have as much time as I'd like, there's always stuff I wish I could be working on! That being said, I have a few things that help. For one, we're lucky enough to be able to afford daycare for my daughter. For two, my job is quite flexible and conducive to reading (I have a teaching-only position at a university).
Otherwise, I'd say it helps that I have spent some time thinking about how I want to use my time and how to do so effectively. I got very into self-help and productivity stuff for awhile when I was a consultant (these days "self-help" just seems like the shallowest parts of occultism without the deeper stuff that makes it worthwhile). So, I try to make sure to do the stuff that's most important to me first, and then fit the other stuff around it. Sometimes that means less-important stuff slips a bit, which is not great, but mostly it seems to work pretty well for me.