Sloth

Overwork/Sloth Efficiency

The character motivated by sloth is driven by either exhaustion or a fear of it. Sloths are generally either people who dragged themselves into a comfortable existence by sheer dint of hard work, people who are very successful but are thus by dint of their Herculean hard work, or the children of either of the first two. The first two have experienced overwork and now seek a way to rest, to find the easier way- the efficient path. The last one seeks to avoid the spirit crushing work load that their parents carried for so long.

The sloth is not necessarily lazy. Rather they seek to be efficient, to do what is necessary and not do more than is needed. When this is done well, and with the work and feelings of others taken into consideration, the sloth seems like a Zen master: purposeful but serene and restful. A competent sloth is a wonder to watch, moving precisely enough and no more.

When done without the proper care and attention, both to the self and to the efforts and feelings of others, the sloth is precisely what their name suggests- and often a parasite to boot. The self-absorbed sloth will live off the efforts of others without any problem in the world.

Sloths often have very few possessions, and even fewer needs. They seek to get their daily bread and maybe a little tea and butter to go with it, but nothing more. Sloths seek efficiency and time-savers. They are motivated by a desire to simplify and economize. Like the glutton and the greedy person, the sloth will seek practical items. But unlike the glutton, the sloth does not take more than she needs at the moment, and never hoards.

And unlike the greedy person, the sloth sees no value in building an empire and reaching for physical success. They seek enough for today, and trust tomorrow to provide enough for tomorrow when it arrives.

Sloths are generally easy going, and often very friendly and gregarious. A competent sloth can be a very hard worker, when it is for a good purpose. An incompetent sloth will generally be very charming when they explain that working simply isn’t their thing. The sloth sees the world as a gentle benign being that provides enough for everyone if they know how to look for it, and how to slow down. This is true of both competent and incompetent sloths.