I've noticed myself recently deriving unexpected pleasure from menial, manual tasks like vacuuming the house or fixing my ice bath. And yet I still hear a voice in the back of my head that tells me I should pay someone to do that and then runs through the countless other things I could be doing that would be more "valuable" like answering emails or catching up on reading.
But there's something to be said about the connection to the physical world and being a changemaker in it whether it's making, fixing, or cleaning something. It's grounding, assertive, a source of pride that you can't find elsewhere.
This newsletter of yours gave me so much food for though. Where do I start?
I 100% agree with the sentiment and have observed these in my everyday life as well. For example, fighting the feeling of becoming a hedonic sloth is an everyday struggle. I have to remind myself to be not one and to smell the sun and remind myself that I am alive so go be a alive.
I do feel there is something to be said about different worldviews. Having moved here from India, I do find some differences in the ways things are. For example, fixing things around the house might have become boring here and it is definitely not something I ever did when I was in India - never once I unclogged our toilet - not once. And yes , you can call someone in USA also to get these things fixed but seeing my American husband rolling his sleeves in middle of the night to plunge with his all power gave me a new desire to learn these skills around the house. The cost here is so much more than the cost of fixing back home and thus, I am cherishing ( maybe a slightly overexuberant word ) these things.
I liked how you provided a different view point of Kaizen philosophy - Its good to see the other side of improvement.
Lastly, I agree that feeling proud of everyday things are so much more lasting than anything else. I have a mantra of 'living the life everyday' and these are by doing things everyday like today I made this egg curry for my husband who is the only egg eater in the house. This was not a recipe I followed but created something out of my curiosity.... I am glad that it worked out but even if it had not, I definitely was really proud of that.
Looking forward to reading more of your newsletters Zac. I just subscribed!
Your writing has this wonderful way of finding me right when I needed it most. I’ve been asked to step down from my own company today, so I’m rather at the peak of feeling useless!
I've noticed myself recently deriving unexpected pleasure from menial, manual tasks like vacuuming the house or fixing my ice bath. And yet I still hear a voice in the back of my head that tells me I should pay someone to do that and then runs through the countless other things I could be doing that would be more "valuable" like answering emails or catching up on reading.
But there's something to be said about the connection to the physical world and being a changemaker in it whether it's making, fixing, or cleaning something. It's grounding, assertive, a source of pride that you can't find elsewhere.
This newsletter of yours gave me so much food for though. Where do I start?
I 100% agree with the sentiment and have observed these in my everyday life as well. For example, fighting the feeling of becoming a hedonic sloth is an everyday struggle. I have to remind myself to be not one and to smell the sun and remind myself that I am alive so go be a alive.
I do feel there is something to be said about different worldviews. Having moved here from India, I do find some differences in the ways things are. For example, fixing things around the house might have become boring here and it is definitely not something I ever did when I was in India - never once I unclogged our toilet - not once. And yes , you can call someone in USA also to get these things fixed but seeing my American husband rolling his sleeves in middle of the night to plunge with his all power gave me a new desire to learn these skills around the house. The cost here is so much more than the cost of fixing back home and thus, I am cherishing ( maybe a slightly overexuberant word ) these things.
I liked how you provided a different view point of Kaizen philosophy - Its good to see the other side of improvement.
Lastly, I agree that feeling proud of everyday things are so much more lasting than anything else. I have a mantra of 'living the life everyday' and these are by doing things everyday like today I made this egg curry for my husband who is the only egg eater in the house. This was not a recipe I followed but created something out of my curiosity.... I am glad that it worked out but even if it had not, I definitely was really proud of that.
Looking forward to reading more of your newsletters Zac. I just subscribed!
Great post
Your writing has this wonderful way of finding me right when I needed it most. I’ve been asked to step down from my own company today, so I’m rather at the peak of feeling useless!
Fantastic meditation on meaningful work.
Thank you for taking the time to read it! I appreciate you.