Is Better, What’s Best?
Make sure you do not sacrifice what is good for something worth less than what you already have.
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We live in a world of consumerism, and even though I am glad for the advances in tech, science, medicine, etc., sometimes I wish we could just go back.
In Rick Rubins’s book, The Creative Act, there is a story on page 93, chapter Intention. In the paraphrased version, every day an old man would draw water from a well and have to do so carefully so as not to hit the sides of the well. One day, a traveler came across the old man and told him how he could improve and make the task easier by implementing some pulleys. The old man declined the offer, fearing that his lack of attention to the task would cause his mind to wander and that the water wouldn’t taste as good as when the task demanded effort.
Similarly, I have gone to my fair share of fancy restaurants, but their food never tastes as good as a glass of water after a hard run.
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We spend so much of our lives trying to get for free what can be gotten with a little attention and hard work.
We want energy in a can instead of actually getting good sleep; we want constant entertainment instead of living a life that is interesting enough; we watch porn or read erotica instead of keeping the romance alive in our own relationships.
In the pursuit of greater yields from our crops, we have traded nutrition for chemicals. Instead of putting in the work to maintain cast iron pans, we coated cheap metal with Teflon, and instead of developing strong feet that could carry our ancestor’s miles and enable them to run down any prey, we encased our feet in tight shoes with heels.
I am not convinced we know what is good for us anymore. It’s not like I want the world to be without advancements, but we seem to be so caught up in making a quick buck or a quick deal. We are so caught up in thinking we can and never asking if we should.
I think the world will greatly benefit from more people being like that old man at the well.
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Originally published at https://korublog.substack.com.
