We live a pretty comfortable life! Since the industrial revolution, we have engineered an environment where many of the harsh realities that were considered commonplace for millennia have been pushed to the periphery of an urbanized existence. We spend the vast majority of our day inside climate-controlled environments. We sit at desks in ergonomically designed chairs. We have calorie rich food in abundance. In many ways, these innovations have extended human longevity, made life more comfortable, and have allowed us as a species to create great things and become prosperous. But has all of this innovation and progress made our lives better?
Aristotle wrote that the highest ideal for humans is eudaimonia - that is flourishing and well-being. Yet today, despite our technological and environmental advances that make life easier, we see a rise in anxiety, depression, substance abuse, suicide, obesity, chronic pain, and much more. In our engineering of comfort, we have created a world of discomfort that we attempt to anesthetize with snack binging, alcohol, drugs, or various forms of screen-based entertainment. Not having to do hard things has caused us to become a soft people.
In this book, Michael Easter discusses the idea that our carefully manicured and comfortable life has caused us to be less resilient and less satisfied despite the ease that we experience in our lives. He introduces the concept of misogi, a Japanese practice of doing something that is really, really hard with a high probability of failure as a ritual to challenge your resilience and reset your comfort barometer in life.
Over the course of the book the author tells the story of his misogi experience. He recounts a 5-week caribou hunt in the remote Alaskan Yukon. As he weaves between his story and lessons learned, he shares how discomfort in the form of boredom, hunger, mindfulness of mortality and physical exertion can help us reverse the negative effects brought about by comfort and can enhance our experience of being human. Throughout the book, he argues that if we embrace discomfort, we will discover new parts of ourselves and find new sources of meaning, purpose, and enjoyment in life.
Personally, I am drawn to this book. It certainly is concordant with my own personal ethos. I have long thought about and pursued the idea of resilience. I don't want to be someone who is weak of mind, body, or spirit. I purposefully work at a place that challenges my mental and emotional fortitude. I like to challenge my mind with great books and great ideas. I get up and workout in the morning as an effort not only to gain strength necessary for a full and productive life, but also as a means of training myself to be disciplined. While you and I may not engage in extreme forms of misogi as the author proposes, I agree that he is getting at an important point. Put yourself in the path of hard things. Engage in voluntary suffering. By doing this, you prepare yourself to be resilient in the times when suffering is out of your control.
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