“Annoyance is the price we pay for community.”
-Kristen Bell
When we choose to live, work, and build alongside other humans - which, like it or not, we all do - we’re also choosing their quirks, their timing, and their inevitable friction points.
The goal isn’t to eliminate annoyance (but come on, it’s kind of fun sometimes, right?). The goal is to reinterpret it.
Every minor irritation is proof that we’re not living in isolation - that we’ve opted into a shared life rather than a perfectly controlled one. The next time you feel yourself getting irritated, pause. Notice it. The real move (not an easy move) is to expand our capacity and see the stuff that worries us, annoys us, and exposes the defects in our relationships as investments in the greater good.
And speaking of good, watch “The Good Place” with Kristen Bell. It’s really, truly…good.