A new mantra: intentional inefficiency
Time is meant for wasting.
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For the last few months, I’ve been trying to find a way to streamline and simplify a daily chore—dinner.
Lured by the promise of a quick and easy meal with little prep and zero thinking, I tried a few different meal kit services. Dinner was indeed faster and easier, and required very little brain power. But something was missing. The flavors were subpar, the portions were too small, and the vegetarian options were not terribly creative. Plus there was so much waste! I couldn’t handle the prepackaged portions of parsley, the single parsnip wrapped in plastic. In the end, it was easier to accept my fate as a person who must feed herself every day. Planning and shopping and cooking and cleaning can be a drag, but it also means I get to eat exactly what I crave. As it turns out, doing dinner the hard way is much more satisfying.
My obsession with meal kit services was short lived, but the impulse that sparked it is pervasive. We live in a society obsessed with making things easy and convenient, full of shiny products and new services that promise to erase all friction from our lives. The proliferation of AI has only made things worse—how else do you explain the ability to receive a text message on your vacuum? One click this, automated that, just think of all the time and energy you’ll save!
But what, exactly, are we saving it for?
This is a sincere question. What are we doing with the precious hours these dazzling advancements have gifted us? Most of the time, we’re working longer hours, watching more Netflix, and spending more money on things we don’t need. Which, I suspect, is the point.
I’m tired of it. I don’t want to spend my time optimizing my existence until there's nothing left but a smooth, undisturbed surface. I want ripples and splashes, tidal pools teeming with life, a dark undertow. Life is in the mess, the annoyances, the moments where you have to slow down and do things the hard way. Humanity isn’t neat and tidy. People aren’t convenient. Easy isn't always the best.
Which is why I'm adopting a new mantra, a fresh manifesto, whenever and however I can: intentional inefficiency. It looks like this:
Taking the long way home, just because. Cooking an elaborate meal for no reason, including dessert. Growing your own asparagus and tomatoes. Adopting a shelter dog with a checkered past, and spending months painstakingly rehabilitating him. Making zines with crooked lines and amateur drawings. Searching for the perfect secondhand jacket, especially if it takes months to find. Reading long books and making peace with your library fines. Spending a full lunch break gossiping with your coworkers. Fighting for justice, even when the bend of the arc feels flat. Lying in the grass with your eyes closed and the sun on your face, even though the sink is full of dishes. Running and climbing with your friends after work, even though you’re tired and the couch is calling. Throwing a party just because. Asking deeply personal questions and oversharing in return. Wasting time as an act of resistance.
Remember: friction is how you make a fire, and fire helps us see in the dark.
✂️ Zine Update
My Hugo zine is coming along, slowly but surely! I'm hoping to finish it in the next few weeks. It's a big step for me, in terms of narrative and form, and I can’t wait to share the finished project with y'all.
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👋 About Me: I’m Chrissy Hennessey, an enthusiastic snacker and native New Yorker living in coastal North Carolina, where I stayed after earning my MFA. My writing has appeared in a decent number of journals, I’ve received fellowships to some fancy residencies, and I’ve written three unpublished novels. This newsletter is a passion project I started in 2019 as a way to connect with artists and writers, share my creative journey, and build a community. Thank you for being here!
I like this reframing! Meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking are among my least favorite activities, but there is a kind of simple pleasure in it (some of the time). ;)
yes to this. My reason for hating all the prep and cooking and thinking about what to make comes from years of hearing from hubs and sons as soon as they walked in the door, even if I had also worked a full day "what's for dinner?". I absolutely hated the question and hated having to come up with something quick. Now that there is just me and my youngest son, I have actually started really cooking much better. I have an extensive, some may say ridiculous recipe collection that I just spent days organizing. I finally decided to try some and although it was almost always a lengthy procedure, the food has turned out amazing. But I have the time that many do not have. It has made me try new flavors and not rely on the old standards of easy fattening casseroles. Now my spice drawer is bulging, and my condiment shelf in the fridge is full...magic can happen!