There will always be dishes. There will always be dust.
I try to keep this as a mantra to remember that there will always be problems to solve.
Responsibility can be one of those maddening realities of life. No matter how hard you work out, ice cream won't be healthy. Driving a thousand miles won't make your car any cleaner. Leaving your kid in the woods won't guarantee wolves will raise them. Bills need to be paid and toilets need scrubbing.
We pretend that's not the reality, right? Somehow there must be a solution for everything! If there isn't some form of technology or tool to fix the problem yet, we need to get working on it. Dishwashers take care of the dishes, unless you get all your food delivered. A car or a bike or a scooter are all available to rent and save you the trouble of walking anywhere. And who reads books? Why can't you just look it up?
We want to speed toward some near future where robots will do everything for us, so we can do what exactly? If you didn't need to cross off the duties of adult living, do you think you'd get down to the deeper stuff? Or would you make more little problems for yourself?
Size aside, problems are part of being human. Whatever fire inside us that led the party out of Africa is the same one burning while we live through this godforsaken year. Why fight it? Why not take comfort in the fact that there is no way around the dishes, the dust, and wiping your butt?
There is satisfaction in it all. We might be good at finding problems but that's only because we're up for the challenge of solving them. There is a life-fueling energy associated with putting on a big ol' boot and stamping out a decent boot-sized fire.
Author and artist Austin Kleon wrote about this topic in a blog post titled The cube (in praise of solvable problems). Reflecting on solving a Rubik's cube and the process of replacing doorknobs in his home, Kleon wrote:
“When so many of life’s problems are unsolvable, solvable problems are a wonderful distraction. When so many things seem unfixable, fixing something feels amazing.”
While our country fights to reform the police and corral a deadly pandemic with no clear end, a problem with a clear solution is a treasure to behold.
I'll give you an example that had me thinking about all this. Last week I found myself glued to my living room table. With a strange shortage of thoughts in my head, I focused everything I had on making sure a thrift store puzzle had all its pieces. In the time I put 300 pieces in order, the sun went down and my take-out pizza definitely got a little cold waiting for me to pick her up. I just had to finish.
But this clearly human endeavor does not mean we pick up the sword every time. As satisfying as seeing a solution through can be, when we're left without a solution, we become drained. It can sabotage the present moment. You can be vacationing in paradise but you can't stop thinking about that memo you left unsigned or that email you left unsent.
We need to pick and choose. We can't solve them all. We can't even attempt it. If you task yourself with one too many, maybe saving the world and watching all of Netflix, you're bound to head for trouble.
You can only handle what you can. So why not seek out some small fires?
With that being said, let's take a look at the interesting stuff I found this week:
Looks like the deadline for TikTok is fast approaching. But all the talk about banning the Chinese app had me wondering what the big deal is. Enter: The Atlantic - Why America is Afraid of TikTok.
Late July, Congress questioned big tech on the expanse of their power. It was a perfect time to revisit this NYTimes article: I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible.
Netflix recommendation: Love on the Spectrum
I've often found Stephen Crowder's Change My Mind series really interesting. Not because anyone successfully can change his mind (usually on a college campus), but that he articulates a controversial (usually conservative) perspective so well. It's a welcome change to the mindless shouting points on both sides. Check out: The COVID Death Count is Inflated.
Need some lighter fodder? Watch people do what they do best - Failarmy: What a mess.
Until next time...