Prompt: \u201cthe mundane\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word \u201cmundane\u201d has French and Latin origins – \u201cmondain\u201d, meaning \u201cof this earth\u201d, and also \u201cclean, elegant\u201d. The modern sense of \u201cdull, uninteresting\u201d is a relatively recent one, from the 1850s. If you look up the current dictionary definition, the old meaning is still considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It reminds me of the word \u201cweird\u201d – which now mostly means odd, strange, not-normal, but really originally meant \u201cpossessing the power to control fate\u201d. In both cases, it seems like the new meaning is almost a sort of insulting diminishment of the original meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing that comes to mind re: mundane is The Mundanity of Excellence, by Daniel Chambliss. I think the word “mundane” in that context embodies both meanings \u2013 excellence is certainly clean and elegant, and “of this earth”\u2026 and also remarkably “boring”, “simple” (but not easy!) Chambliss makes the case that excellence isn’t metaphysical or supernatural (which lots of people seem to assume about geniuses \u2013 that they’re somehow intrinsically a different, better kind of human than the rest of us) but really just compounded qualitative improvements over time. The Olympic medal is won not through a dramatic burst of inspiration, but from a tedious daily slog that the athlete almost definitely finds rewarding for its own sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(A thought I once had that I like to revisit from time to time \u2013 when you’re a baby, simply using your finger to touch your nose is an act that requires the development of dexterity, proprioception, self-awareness, nuance. Becoming a concert pianist is simply more of the same \u2013 just that most of us are challenged to achieve basic developmental milestones as children, and then stop challenging ourselves to get progressively more skilled at firing a desired combination of neurons in a desired way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back to mundanity. Everyday life is mundane. We wake up, we go to the toilet, we eat, we drink, we go about our chores and duties, we go to bed. That’s most of life. Living is mostly this sort of earthy day-to-day series of repeated actions, things that we don’t think very much about. And yet\u2026 I think at least some of us yearn for something more than that. “There’s gotta be more to life,” sang Stacy Orrico, “than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.” It’s a pretty common motif in lots of stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think there was a point in my life where I was very into the idea of trying to seek out “greatness”, seek out a more exalted life, a higher plane of existence. And I think there are certain experiences you can have in life that make it seem like maybe you’re destined for something greater, something more. And yet\u2026 having lived a while, I think the reality of reality is mundanity. Does that make sense? Like, life on earth is a life of earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In this world
I guess what I’ve been circling around is\u2026 the entire idea that there’s some sort of distinction between the mundane and the not-mundane is entirely in the mind. Young children don’t quite recognize that distinction, I think. They transition from fantasy to reality and back seamlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
I think this is it! This is what I’m getting at. I think that, while some experiences can certainly be almost intrinsically more sublime than others \u2013 a scenic hike with a great view comes to mind \u2013 the real challenge for most people most of the time is to figure out how to see the sublime in the mundane. I remember once having an experience of profound gratitude when I was having lunch at my usual spot near my place \u2013 the realization that I am a pattern in space-time, of this universe, and that I was feeding myself, sustaining myself, with food that I bought with money that I obtained from my own labor. I had another similar experience once when I was on a crowded train on the way to work, and for some reason a particular song and scene from a TV show (Radiohead’s Motion Picture Soundtrack, in the Westworld scene “Upstairs”) came to my mind \u2013 and I felt this sudden, overwhelming sense of gratitude to musicians and artists throughout the history of humanity, making the effort, to make art, to move each other. And they’ve done this despite having mundane struggles \u2013 despite having to eat, having bills to pay. That’s something incredibly exalted to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n