Amazon is so convenient. Everything you could possibly need, all in one place. Buy with one click. It will magically arrive on your doorstep tomorrow.
There’s something to be said about convenience. About efficiency. It frees up time for other things.
Now that we have Amazon, grocery delivery, and everything else we can possibly imagine just a click away…we must all be luxuriating in a surplus of free time.
Hmmm…wait a second.
What went wrong?
We’re the most frazzled, multitasking, overstretched generation that ever existed.
Here’s the problem. When we become myopically focused on maximizing efficiency in one place, that pattern of thinking starts bleeding into other areas of life until we slowly bleed out.
When efficiency is the focus, we forget to live life.
Efficiency doesn’t have time for beauty. That’s frivolous.
Efficiency doesn’t have time for connection. Let’s get to the point.
Efficiency doesn’t have time for joy. We’ll get to that later (with all the free time we saved!).
Efficiency robs us of what makes life worth living.
Strip malls are the architectural manifestation of efficiency. They’re built in record time, copy + paste design, cramming in soullessly indistinguishable shops.
The opposite of the strip mall is the gothic cathedral, the art deco building, the Eiffel Tower. They took longer to build. They are one of a kind. There was craft and passion infused in the design. Details were created for their own sake.
Beauty was considered a valuable function, not a frivolous waste of time.
Which would you rather live next to? The strip mall or the gothic cathedral.
Which do you value more?
Now let me ask you this: Which would you rather be?
Each of us builds structure into our lives. Routines, practices, and ways of being.
At work, chances are you’re rewarded for being a strip mall. Fitting tightly into the box of your job description. Following directions and pumping out a high volume of (uninspired) work while operating on “frazzled autopilot”.
What would it feel like to be a gothic cathedral instead?
What would it look like for the life you build to be beautiful? To have intricate details and beautifully hidden easter eggs. For beauty and passion to be considered a valuable function, not a waste of time?
How would it feel to build something that only you can build? Something that has never been seen before. Something that’s one of a kind.
What are you waiting for? I can’t wait to see what you create.
