Criminal Intent

Task 45, November 22 to November 29

Frustration. An emotion that occurs in situations when I am blocked from reaching a desired outcome. Unknown.

Maybe it’s the election, or maybe it’s the fact that I was recently cited for making an illegal u-turn (on a deserted side street, though to be fair it wasn’t deserted, as I was there—and so was the cop) or maybe it’s because I need to get a license for my dog and a smog check on my car and re-up the insurance on my house…whatever it was, frustration had crept into my life and gnawed at me…

Our entire waking experience is governed by laws, rules and social constraints. We are free people only in the sense that we are free to follow or break the rules of society. Everything we eat, drive or touch or wear is thoroughly regulated.

I want to start out by saying: I get it. I understand that a modern, safe, humane, fair society needs rule and regulations to ensure a quality of life that we (as Americans) fought very hard to create in the first place. And I understand, for example, that food prepared in an unregulated kitchen in an unregulated restaurant in an unregulated building may result in tainted food, cockroaches on the floor and a collapsed roof (not necessarily in that order).

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But, for Christ’s sake, there is not a nook nor cranny of our personal nor professional lives that is not regulated.

And since these regulations are enacted for the greater good—but not necessarily for MY good—frustration can seep into a person’s psyche, even if that person is normal, law-abiding, church going, mild-mannered, don’t-step-on-a-crack-or-break-your-momma’s-back, kind of person…

And frustration may lead a normal person to scour the internet to find other people who are as frustrated as he/she is, which could lead to extreme frustration, even RAGE! This is a person who feels boxed in and left out at the same time. This is a person who may explode and act in a totally unconstrained manner for no other reason than exploding in an unconstrained manner is unregulated.

Now take a breath. You’re not going to let that happen. That’s not you.

TASK:

Take a moment to list on a piece of paper the source(s) of the frustration that you’ve been feeling lately. When you are finished take the piece of paper and burn it into fine ash. Take the ashes and put them in a re-closable sandwich bag, and put the bag in the drawer where occasionally you can look at it and remind yourself that “this too shall pass”.