How Boring Can Be Exciting
Back in February I read this great article from Mat Ellis called How Boring Can Be Exciting. If you read 52 Improvements then you will appreciate this article. The part I wanted to highlight is:
This is in the beginning of the article and highlights how the idea of the “fix it” list has become more and more digital. As someone who is always evolving my digital systems I had never really applied this idea to my home. My idea of home is that it is about achieving a point of “solution” where once you have the best spatula set from Wirecutter you have “solved” the “spatula problem.”
It reminds me of every time I talk to someone about buying a backpack. The quest for the perfect backpack is the holy grail of the modern laptop wielding information worker. There are SO MANY BACKPACKS (this is my current bag), but a backpack is not the end goal. It’s a tool to help you achieve the end goal, so there can never be a perfect backpack. You need different backpacks for different occasions.
This idea never occurred to me about the idea of home until I read Mat Ellis’ article. Just as no backpack can serve every trip no home will serve every point in our lives. In fact, if it does, then something is wrong! Homes should change and adapt as our lives change and adapt.
Ellis makes the point that there is no end point. The list of things to fix, improve, and repair is never-ending. That infinite list of chores is sometimes daunting, but there is some exciting opportunity in that as well, and plenty of space to have some fun.