What do you do
to escape from
the world’s problems?
I’m an unapologetically positive person. In the past I used to be relentlessly negative and it made me so miserable that I forced myself to completely shift the other way. Much of this positivity is informed by what I like to think is a pragmatic optimism born out of a cursory knowledge of history that allows me to recognize that much of what we curse as uniquely modern problems really amount to the same issues we’ve always dealt with. And with this knowledge comes a slight skepticism towards the rhetoric of immediate action, because while I believe in change, I recognize it comes in waves and at a pace we simply can’t force to move any faster. Progress is a glacier, inevitable but sloooooooow.
But that said, even I have to recognize that we are deep in one of those historical periods that will result in countless hologram-documentaries screened directly into our future packing crate living units. Things are happening. Things are happening hard.
And now–more than anytime before–we can spend as much time as we want immersed in this important future history. To the point that it almost feels overwhelming and all-consuming. We know the importance of serving witness and not allowing the perpetrators to perpetrate without protest, but the human body can only take so much. There has to be a point where you shut down and focus on yourself and try to find a small measure of inner peace.
When you reach that point, what is that you find yourself doing?
I cook. More than any other activity it allows me to turn off my brain and focus on two things–the task on hand and whatever podcast/audiobook I am choosing to listen to. This weekend, I made homemade pasta for the first time and as I spent way longer than I should have rolling out the dough, I got lost in the process and knew only the moment. It was so perfect that I did it again tonight and may do it again tomorrow.
How about you?