An exploration of what happens when we relate to animals outside of productivity—what they teach when freed from our instrumental demands.
Modern life tends to judge animals by utility: livestock for food, pets for emotional labor, wildlife for ecosystem services. Hodja's tradition invites a radical shift: relating to animals simply as beings, without requiring them to justify their existence through usefulness to us. When a creature has no productive purpose in our lives, what remains? Observation becomes possible. Curiosity replaces efficiency. We notice details—the way a bird tilts its head, how a lizard moves—that our instrumental focus would never permit. This framework doesn't forbid using animals (Hodja rode his donkey), but rather refuses to justify all animal existence through human benefit. Some animals can simply be. The examined relationship includes asking: What am I unable to see or appreciate about this creature because I'm constantly calculating its value to me? The wisdom here is that stepping outside utility reveals dimensions of reality our productivity-obsessed minds normally filter out. In this freedom from usefulness lies unexpected joy.
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