Tag: life

When Love Stands in the Way of Progress

Chris KhatschLeave a comment

Every other year or so, I end up reading E. M. Forster’s short story called “The Other Side of the Hedge.” Although it’s more than a hundred years old, it’s as if it were written yesterday, addressing hustle culture and, generally, all the other success-first ideologies of today. It questions our compulsion to keep moving forward no matter what in order to achieve something. It is one of those stories that makes us stop for a moment and think about the hamster wheel we’ve been put on. It asks us to cool down and have a refreshing drink. And in that pause, we find the space to raise important questions again, which had dust settle down on them ever since we graduated from university and entered the workforce.

Why are we conditioned to worship productivity?
Is what we call progress really progress or a simulacrum of progress?

…

One of my friends is so addicted to work that spending time with his family feels like a waste of time for him. All he wants to do is “keep building” his body, his business, etc. He never says it like that, of course, but you can infer it when you read between the lines of what he speaks. When we’re having a beer, he (almost exclusively) likes to palaver about his adventures at the workplace, and he’ll talk and talk as a toddler babbles in his crib after a long day when it’s his bedtime. And whenever he talks about family matters, it’s always how time with the wife and kids, chores, and errands kept him from what he wanted to achieve during the week, the month, the year. It’s as if, using different words, he’s always saying, “Only if I didn’t have a family, I’d attain my dreams.”

My friend, as you see, is a proud man who has his eyes set on business objectives; everything else is an obstacle getting in his way. Although there was a time when he claimed that getting married and raising children he loved was the dream that he was after…

It’s funny how what you do turns you into someone who does that thing. My friend worked hard to start a family. Then, his family became the thing that kept him from working hard, which was something he initially did to achieve the initial dream — starting a family. He worked hard for such a long period of time that he became a person who works hard for no reason but vaguely defined progress.

And now, it’s like he’s constantly trying to “get back on track” because life interfered with business, leisure interrupted work, love stood in the way of progress…

Some people (have been programmed to) believe that the good life is achieved when, in reality, the good life is practiced. Improving your life materially is often necessary for most of us, but it’s only one part of the game. We must also be present spiritually to reap the joys we have planted.

What Killed Art

Chris KhatschLeave a comment

In a forgotten pub, a Gen Z and a Millennial sat at the bar side by side on bar stools. The Gen Z’s bar stool squeaked every time he moved; the one the Millennial sat on didn’t. There was no electricity, but the night sky was clear, stars shone, and the moon was full, so, although minimal, enough moonlight entered the pub through the broken window behind them. The bartender was a skeleton wrapped in spider webs, but he still served them drinks somehow. The Gen Z was having his fifth Cognac and Coke, but the Millennial’s first pint of beer remained untouched.

“I was born to be an artist,” the Gen Z said. “But now it looks like art died before my time.”

“Don’t take it too hard,” the Millennial said, smiling. “Art died before my time, too. Much before my time, in fact. And it’s not just art that died. They also said that God is dead, philosophy is dead, and they even claimed that love is dead.”

“So, you’re saying that, basically, everything that once made us human is either dead or dying.”

“Unfortunately.”

“But who killed art? Who killed God? Who killed philosophy? Who killed love?”

“You want me to give you the names of the murderers, but I can only give you the names of those who wrote the obituaries. I’ll name them: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, for instance, announced the death of art; Friedrich Nietzsche announced the death of God; Stephen Hawking announced the death of philosophy; Byung-Chul Han announced the death of love. And I’m sure there are others who made the same or similar announcements. Journalists outnumber newsworthy events. But does it really matter who found the corpses? I have a feeling you don’t really care. I can see it in your eyes.”

“You’re right. I don’t care,” the Gen Z said. “What I want to know is the cause of death of art. What killed it? Can’t you tell me, please, who killed it?”

“Hm, well, the answer is more depressing than art’s funeral,” said the Millennial. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let me tell it to you as it is. There are no murderers. No killers except time. After a long battle with history and technological progress, art passed away in her sleep of natural causes.”

The Gen Z let out a long sigh and said, “If what you are saying is true, then how come there’s still so much art, religion, philosophy, and love in the world?”

“Ah! That’s an excellent question,” the Millennial said. “But it’s the wrong question.”

“What?” the Gen Z was surprised. “Why?”

“I really wish I could spend more time with you in this forgotten place,” the Millennial suddenly rose from his place. “You may be onto something here, so I encourage you to keep looking. But I must now disappear.”

This piece was first published on my Substack on July 6, 2026.