Something That Won't Compute

Does it ever feel like life has become stagnant and predictable? That it's just the same thing day after day? The same old work, same old paycheque, same old to do list? I know a lot of people who feel that way. They talk about making a dramatic change, shaking things up, but somehow the comfort of the mundane always seems to win out. Maybe you feel like that too.

A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to a poem called "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry. It starts with a similar idea, that same old predictable life - work lots, get paid, have a vacation, buy more things. It's more than just a pattern of behaviour, it's a mindset. A mindset that needs more, that's out to get what it deserves, that fears the unknown and looks out for number one.

And that is what's expected - advertising targets it, employers take advantage of it, the media promotes it, political parties use it to get our support. It's like they can read our minds.

The poet continues to say, "So, friends, every day do something that won't compute."

Some of his examples include working for nothing, loving someone who doesn't deserve it, and planting sequoias.

I often take my kids to a local park - a small lake circled by a walking trail. We usually walk along the lake for a bit before stopping at a playground. Last week while Steven was exploring the lakeside (and I was trying to convince him that jumping into the lake wasn't in his best interests) a man beckoned us over. He had been fishing and had a wriggling trout hanging from his line. He showed Steven the fish and offered that he could touch it. We chatted with the man for a while, and he said something that I thought was really interesting:

"Do you know why I showed you the fish? You come to the park and you already know what your day will be like. But you don't expect that you will be touching a fish. It shakes your mind up."

It's something that won't compute.

That's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately. Something that won't compute. It's an act of defiance against a system that would have us mindlessly working and consuming. It's a choice to step aside from what we're expecting or the way we've always done things, leaving us open to new experiences and ways of thinking.

So what does that look like for me? Maybe jumping in the puddles with my toddler when I take him for a walk in the rain. Maybe walking at my child's pace, even though I have such a long list of things that need to be done. Maybe smiling at the strangers I pass on the street, regardless of how different from me they are. Maybe voting for the political candidate I agree with, even if it means "throwing my vote away". Maybe planting things in my garden that will take years to come to maturity, even though we're renting and don't know how long we're going to live here. Maybe continuing to invite people into our home - even to live with us - because we believe community is important.

What does that look like for you?