Dear Kenko: My Contractor Promises Tuesday-ish Every Week

My Contractor Promises Tuesday-ish Every Single Week

Kenko Replies

Yoshida Kenko, Japanese Buddhist monk and essayist (c. 1283 to c. 1350)

Dear Waiting in Waco,

My dear Waiting in Waco, a floor vacuumed twice for a man who never arrived is a small monument to hope, and I admire it. Forgive an old monk for smiling at the named boxes. But I suspect your trouble is not the tile at all. It is that you have mistaken a maybe for an enemy.

In my Essays in Idleness, I imagined a world where nothing ever faded, where the dew never dried and the smoke never drifted away. I decided we would be moved by nothing in it. Then I wrote, "The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty." Your contractor is not precious, I admit. But the weather he brings is the same one every life lives in. You have simply met it in your hallway.

Notice what you are actually doing. You are not waiting for tile. You are waiting for permission to enjoy your Tuesday. Stop handing that permission to someone else. Keep the coffee, but drink it where you like. If he comes, wonderful. If he does not, you have had a morning instead of a vigil. Also, send him one polite message asking for a real date. Then let the answer be whatever it is.

This week, plan one thing you enjoy for Tuesday morning and do it, tile or no tile. Leave the front door unwatched. If he arrives, he can knock. Those boxes have waited 43 days, and they will survive your walk. A kitchen finished a little late is still a kitchen, and a week well spent is never late.

— Kenko

Yoshida Kenko was a Japanese writer who served at the imperial court before becoming a Buddhist monk in the early 14th century. He is remembered for Essays in Idleness, known in Japanese as Tsurezuregusa, a collection of about 243 short pieces on friendship, manners, nature, and the passing of time. The essays wander from topic to topic, often with a dry sense of humor. Kenko prized imperfection and impermanence, and readers across seven centuries have found his calm, wry voice a relief from hurry.

Try This Today

Pick one thing today that is waiting on someone else, such as a repair visit, a callback, or a package. Write down the one action you can take, then do it once. After that, set a timer for ten minutes and spend them on something you enjoy that does not depend on the answer. Notice how the waiting feels afterward.

Your Turn

What are you currently holding your whole day still for, and what would you do with that time if you stopped waiting?