Thanks a lot for sharing. This reminded me of two things:
- One of my favorite writers is Debbie Chachra who writes (and cares) about maintenance a lot, particularly of large systems. You might find her writing relatable (if yet unknown to you). For example here: https://comment.org/care-at-scale/.
- The second thing that came to mind was Stewart Brand thinking on “Pace Layering” (https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/issue3-brand/release/2) and the fact that it is only as we grow older and have longer observation periods to look at that we can start discerning between the faster moving layers (TikTok Fashion) and the slower (but much more powerful) ones (Culture or large infrastructures). As Brand writes, “Fast learns, slow remembers. Fast proposes, slow disposes. Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous. Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution. Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy. Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power.”
I’m still working on practicing putting my every day life into words, so when I read your essays I’m always comforted to see some of my own emotions in writing.
I’m not sure if you can relate, but some other words that came to mind when I read “maintenance” were “endurance” & “resilience”. I thought it was interesting that you actually used “endurance” to describe HOW you’re doing the upkeep of your daily life. And yes maintenance is hard and sometimes hard is pain, which is why I thought of “resilience”. Sheryl Sandberg in Option B described resilience as the capacity to endure pain... to endure the hard work. I loved that idea of the “small repeated actions” adding up to “an entire life”. Like you said, one day at a time ♥️
Love the idea that the only things worth doing are those you can do for a lifetime (or eternity). It’s almost a principle that binds all good and beautiful and true things. Fitness, spirituality, relationships, learning.
Also - your ability to capture physical landscapes and sensory experiences always amazes me.
The last year I feel I have finally gotten a handle on that repetition thing, at working diligently and consistently to make things good - for the long term. I'm 2 years into writing my first book and I'm learning it happens one day at time, 500 words at a time. So this really resonated with me and was beautifully written.
Maintenance is tough because you don’t get the regular dopamine hits of making progress toward something. You don’t get the building sense of momentum. Things you used to find exciting become chores.
For me, I feel this most when it comes to fitness. I need to keep changing my goal - these 3 months focusing on improving my bench, 2 years ago I deprioritised lifting and got really into running instead. It keeps things interesting for me.
Thanks a lot for sharing. This reminded me of two things:
- One of my favorite writers is Debbie Chachra who writes (and cares) about maintenance a lot, particularly of large systems. You might find her writing relatable (if yet unknown to you). For example here: https://comment.org/care-at-scale/.
- The second thing that came to mind was Stewart Brand thinking on “Pace Layering” (https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/issue3-brand/release/2) and the fact that it is only as we grow older and have longer observation periods to look at that we can start discerning between the faster moving layers (TikTok Fashion) and the slower (but much more powerful) ones (Culture or large infrastructures). As Brand writes, “Fast learns, slow remembers. Fast proposes, slow disposes. Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous. Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution. Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy. Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power.”
woah these are great recs - thank you!
I’m still working on practicing putting my every day life into words, so when I read your essays I’m always comforted to see some of my own emotions in writing.
I’m not sure if you can relate, but some other words that came to mind when I read “maintenance” were “endurance” & “resilience”. I thought it was interesting that you actually used “endurance” to describe HOW you’re doing the upkeep of your daily life. And yes maintenance is hard and sometimes hard is pain, which is why I thought of “resilience”. Sheryl Sandberg in Option B described resilience as the capacity to endure pain... to endure the hard work. I loved that idea of the “small repeated actions” adding up to “an entire life”. Like you said, one day at a time ♥️
Nice read 🙏
This was so good Nicole :)
Love the idea that the only things worth doing are those you can do for a lifetime (or eternity). It’s almost a principle that binds all good and beautiful and true things. Fitness, spirituality, relationships, learning.
Also - your ability to capture physical landscapes and sensory experiences always amazes me.
Great work!
The last year I feel I have finally gotten a handle on that repetition thing, at working diligently and consistently to make things good - for the long term. I'm 2 years into writing my first book and I'm learning it happens one day at time, 500 words at a time. So this really resonated with me and was beautifully written.
“Maintenance.” This post puts words to my greatest source of anxiety. Beautifully written.
Maintenance is tough because you don’t get the regular dopamine hits of making progress toward something. You don’t get the building sense of momentum. Things you used to find exciting become chores.
For me, I feel this most when it comes to fitness. I need to keep changing my goal - these 3 months focusing on improving my bench, 2 years ago I deprioritised lifting and got really into running instead. It keeps things interesting for me.