We live in a world obsessed with the finished product. The gleaming skyscraper, the published novel, the successful business, the solved equation. We celebrate the outcome, the visible trophy of effort. But what about the force that bridges the chasm between a thought and a thing? What about the messy, chaotic, and profoundly human process of doing? There is a beautiful and potent Swedish word for this very concept: Gärningen.
Gärningen (pronounced roughly ‘yair-ning-en’) is more than just “the act” or “the deed.” It is the embodiment of action itself, the tangible manifestation of intention in the world. It carries a weight, a consequence, and a truth that mere thought or speech cannot. To understand gärningen is to unlock a deeper appreciation for how our lives are actually built, not in moments of grand revelation, but in the steady, often unglamorous, accumulation of actions. This article explores the power of gärningen—from the psychology of habit to the ethics of responsibility, from the artist’s studio to the halls of justice—and argues that by focusing on the doing, we can lead more authentic and impactful lives.
Beyond the Thought: The Essence of Gärningen
In English, we have words like “act,” “deed,” and “action,” but they often feel transactional or legalistic. Gärningen is richer. It implies a connection between the actor and the act; it suggests that the doing leaves an imprint not only on the world but also on the doer. The famous Swedish saying, “Gärningen är större än ordet” (“The deed is greater than the word”), perfectly captures this hierarchy. Promises are air; gärningen is earth.
Think of a time someone profoundly helped you. It likely wasn’t their reassuring words alone that made the difference, but the gärningen—the specific act of showing up at your door with a meal, spending an afternoon helping you move, or meticulously proofreading your important document. The gärningen is the proof of care. It transforms intangible emotion into concrete reality.
This power of gärningen is what makes it so central to our identity. We are not merely what we think or feel; we are, in a very real sense, the sum of our actions. Every choice to practice an instrument, to listen patiently, to take a walk instead of scrolling, is a gärningen that sculpts who we are. The philosopher Hannah Arendt, in her work on the “human condition,” distinguished between labor (necessary for survival), work (creating durable objects), and action—the spontaneous, unpredictable deeds that occur between people and which ultimately reveal who we are. This concept of action is very close to gärningen. It is through our gärningar (the plural form) that we introduce ourselves to the world.
The Silent Architect of the Self: Gärningen and Habit
If gärningen is a single brick, then our habits are the walls of our character. The most powerful gärningar in our lives are often the smallest, most repeated ones. The daily gärningen of writing for thirty minutes, even when inspiration is absent, is what builds a manuscript. The daily gärningen of choosing a healthy snack over a sugary one is what builds physical health. We drastically overestimate the importance of grand, sweeping decisions and underestimate the transformative power of small, consistent actions.
This is where gärningen becomes an unconscious architect. When an action is repeated enough, it ceases to be a conscious choice and becomes an automatic behavior—a habit. The initial gärningen requires willpower. But once habituated, the action carries its own momentum. This is why focusing on starting a tiny, manageable gärningen is far more effective than aiming for a massive, life-overhauling goal. Want to become a runner? Don’t fixate on running a marathon. Focus on the gärningen of putting on your running shoes and stepping outside every day. The gärningen itself, repeated, will do the heavy lifting.
The inverse is also true. Negative habits are also built through repeated gärningar. The seemingly harmless gärningen of checking your phone first thing in the morning, repeated over years, wires your brain for distraction and anxiety. Understanding this gives us immense agency. We cannot always control our thoughts, but we can, with effort, intervene at the level of gärningen. We can choose a different action, and in doing so, begin to re-sculpt ourselves.
The Canvas and the Chisel: Gärningen in Creativity and Work
In the creative process, the concept of gärningen is a lifeline against the tyranny of perfectionism. Every artist, writer, and innovator faces the void of the blank page, the empty canvas, the silent studio. The enemy at this stage is not a lack of talent, but a fear of imperfect action. The internal critic screams that the first attempt will be worthless. This is where one must embrace the power of the first gärningen.
The gärningen of making a single mark on the canvas, however clumsy, breaks the spell. It moves the process from the abstract realm of ideas to the tangible world of material. As the painter Corita Kent said, “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make.” This “making” is gärningen. The writer Anne Lamott champions the “shitty first draft,” which is essentially the initial, necessary gärningen that gets the raw material out of your head and onto the page. You cannot edit a thought, but you can edit a sentence. The gärningen provides the clay that can then be shaped.
This principle applies far beyond the arts. In the business world, the ethos of “launch and iterate” is a celebration of gärningen over endless planning. A prototype, however flawed, is a gärningen that generates real-world feedback no focus group ever could. A small pilot project is a gärningen that teaches more than a year of market analysis. The act of doing reveals the true problems and opportunities that were invisible in the planning stage. The gärningen is the ultimate teacher.
The Moral Weight: gärningen in Ethics and Justice
Perhaps the most profound domain of gärningen is in the realm of ethics. Our legal and moral systems are fundamentally built upon the evaluation of deeds. The saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is a stark reminder that intentions are, in the final analysis, secondary to actions. A good intention without a corresponding gärningen is ethically inert. Conversely, a beneficial gärningen can have a positive impact even if the intentions were mixed.
This creates a complex web of responsibility. Gärningen binds us to the consequences of our actions. It is the anchor point for accountability. In a court of law, proving someone had a malicious thought is not enough; the prosecution must prove the gärningen—the specific deed that caused harm. This link between action and consequence is the bedrock of a functional society.
But what about the gärningen we fail to perform? This is the concept of sins of omission. If you see a person collapse on the street and you choose to walk past without helping, your gärningen—or lack thereof—is a morally significant act. Inaction is a form of action. This expands the scope of gärningen to include our responsibilities to others. It’s not just about what we do, but also about what we choose not to do. The weight of gärningen can be a heavy burden, but it is also the source of our power to do good.
The Collective Force: gärningen in Society and Social Change
Gärningen is not solely an individual phenomenon. Collective gärningar are the engine of history. Social movements are not built on sentiment alone; they are built on a multitude of small, courageous actions. The gärningen of one person sitting at a lunch counter, the gärningen of another marching in the street, the gärningen of many more writing letters and having difficult conversations—these collective deeds are what bend the arc of the moral universe.
This is a crucial antidote to the modern sense of helplessness in the face of large-scale problems like climate change or inequality. It’s easy to feel that our individual gärningen—recycling, buying local, voting—is a drop in the ocean. But the philosophy of gärningen teaches us that the ocean is made of drops. More importantly, our personal gärningen has a ripple effect. It influences those around us, normalizes new behaviors, and contributes to a shifting cultural tide. The collective gärning of millions choosing sustainable products signals a market shift that no government mandate could easily achieve.
Furthermore, participating in a collective gärningen, like a community clean-up or a volunteer project, is a powerful antidote to isolation. It connects us to others through shared purpose and tangible effort. The gärningen itself becomes the bond.
Reclaiming Gärningen in a World of Virtual Spectacle
We live in an age that threatens to divorce us from the power of gärningen. Our attention is captured by the virtual spectacle—endless scrolling through curated highlights of other people’s lives. This is a world of consumption, not creation; of observation, not action. It can create a passive, disembodied feeling where we confuse having an opinion online with taking a meaningful stand in the real world.
To reclaim gärningen is to consciously re-engage with the physical, tactile world. It is to prioritize making over consuming. This can be as simple as the gärningen of baking your own bread, fixing a leaky faucet, planting a garden, or writing a letter by hand. These acts ground us. They provide a sense of agency and completion that digital interactions often lack.
In our professional lives, it means protecting time for deep, focused work—the gärningen of producing something of value—against the constant pull of emails and notifications, which are often about the appearance of work rather than work itself. It’s about valuing the craftsperson who performs the gärningen of skilled labor as much as we value the manager who coordinates.
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The Journey is the Destination: Integrating Gärningen into Your Life
So, how can we practically invite more gärningen into our lives? It starts with a shift in focus from outcome to process.
- Start Small and Concrete: Don’t set a goal to “get fit.” Set an intention to perform the gärningen of a fifteen-minute walk every day. The goal is the walk itself, not the abstract concept of fitness. The results will follow the action.
- Embrace Imperfect Action: Give yourself permission to do things badly. The first gärningen is the most important because it creates momentum. You can’t improve what hasn’t been started.
- Reflect on Your Gärningar: At the end of each day, instead of making a to-do list for tomorrow, reflect on the gärningar you accomplished today. This shifts your sense of self-worth from what you plan to do to what you have actually done.
- Notice the Gärningen in Others: Express gratitude for specific gärningar. Instead of a generic “thanks for your help,” try “thank you for the gärningen of staying late to finish that report; it made a huge difference.” This acknowledges the effort and makes the appreciation more meaningful.
- Choose a Gärningen of Connection: In your relationships, prioritize a small, tangible act of care—a gärningen—over a grand declaration. The consistent, small actions build trust and intimacy far more effectively than occasional extravagance.
Conclusion: The Truth of the Deed
Gärningen is the unsung hero of human experience. It is the quiet force that builds cities, forges character, and drives progress. It is the bridge between our inner world of dreams and the outer world of reality. While words can inspire and plans can guide, it is the gärningen that ultimately tells the truth about who we are and what we value.
