The quest for great latte art means that when I fail, I forget sometimes that I still made myself a tasty cup of coffee. I get worked up, down on myself, obsessed with improvements.
Striving for mastery is worthwhile and a meaningful part of how I live my life, but it can obscure the joy of why I started in the first place. The story I tell myself about success and failure gets in the way.
That story starts to lose its power when I remind myself what it is that I did, at its simplest level. “I made some messed up latte art” can become “I made some latte art,” can become “I made some coffee.” Or even “I had a hot drink.” One layer at a time, my obsession melts, and I relax.
Marcus Aurelius (a prominent Stoic philosopher) calls this ‘stripping away the legend.’ He advises us to strip away the legend of luxuries and misfortunes, to make room in our hearts for what really matters in life. That $100 steak is just some cooked meat; the awful new policy announcement at work is just an email.
There are all sorts of little things in our day we get worked up in knots over, that get in the way of contentment. The good news is, that means we’ll never run out of opportunities to practice. Find a knot in your day today to untie with this technique, and see what you find. In the meantime, I’m gonna make another cup of coffee.