EP 32 | The Lie of Linear Progress

Modern culture is obsessed with linear progress. More growth, more productivity, more optimization, more forward motion. But reality is cyclical. And when you try to live by a linear model in a cyclical world, you burn out, abandon things too early, and lose meaning.

In this episode, Jenna Marilyn explores how the pressure to always improve, pivot, and reinvent teaches us to leave instead of stay. To quit instead of tend. To chase what’s next instead of commit to what’s already here. She breaks down why repetition, routine, and returning have been quietly devalued, and how that disconnection from natural cycles shows up as exhaustion and confusion.

Wisdom lives in staying. In returning. In tending to relationships, practices, and seasons long enough for depth to form. Meaning is not created by novelty or constant escalation. It is built through commitment, attention, and participation over time.

Follow Jenna on Instagram: @jennamarilyn_

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Host: Jenna Marilyn

Producer: JD Ferrell

Presented by: THE Modern Podcast Network and ThemodernHQ.com