Embracing the Value of an Imperfect Solution

Life's littlest moments can behold the most enlightening lessons. This morning, during a seemingly routine exercise - that of making breakfast - I experienced a delicious realization. It was an idea that arose from the minutiae of flipping fluffy pancakes - a particularly delightful way to start the day and one I feel compelled to share.

I laid everything out on the kitchen countertop: a brand new box of Hungry Jack buttermilk pancake mix, fresh eggs, vegetable oil, milk, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and two spatulas: a wooden one for mixing, and a flat plastic one for flipping. On top of the gas-lit range warmed an iron griddle already hot enough to spit water. In hungry anticipation of ingredient-mixing nirvana, I scanned my hotcake-cooking arsenal, and noticed something was dreadfully wrong - no mixing bowl.

This wouldn't happen "back home" (in Philadelphia). We have pretty much everything we "need", including a wide array of glass, aluminum, ceramic and plastic bowls. But since we're still getting set up in our new place here in Cochabamba Bolivia, there's no such thing. So I rooted around our still relatively sparse kitchen cabinetry, and came upon my first possible solution: a cereal bowl. But after a crusty-eyed inspection of its dimensions and volume, I surmised it would likely lead to an unbearably cramped mess of batter-mixing frustration. Next option: plastic containers usually reserved for storing and refrigerating leftovers - but just too flimsy, too small, and too square. What about drinking glasses, coffee mugs, plates or plastic bags - no way! The only thing left was a shelf containing 4 shiny-new, teflon-coated, cooking pots and frying pans...bingo!

Within moments, like a half-starved short-order chef, I was manically mixing pancake batter...in a range-top pasta-pot. Maybe not the "perfect solution" by definition, meaning it wasn't a "mixing bowl", but without a doubt, the most perfect "imperfect solution" given the circumstances. And therein lies my epiphany...

There is meaningful value in the process of arriving at an "imperfect" solution. And, that the satisfaction derived from experiencing that process, can quite possibly equal or exceed the satisfaction derived from the application of a more conventionally "perfect" solution.

As we look about the world, it's impossible not to notice the problems that need solving: war, poverty, disease, hunger, environmental degradation, corruption, and so on. It's especially difficult if you give any portion of your attention to the non-stop, over-commercialized "news" being spun online, over the air, and over the wires...I digress (that'll be a topic for another post, soon).

But, if we can just remember, that our own solutions to problems, no matter how "perfect" they may seem to us, may very well not be perfect solutions for others. We've got to be willing to take into account other people's culture, history, family, economic means, sympathies, beliefs and priorities before we start doling out solutions. And we've got to give at least equal weight to the value of the process of arriving at solutions as we do to the highly subjective value of the solution itself. And finally, we've got to be willing to allow that process to unfold naturally, with mindful engagement and respect.

Becoming more empathetically inclined this way could enable each and every one of us to experience more satisfying interpersonal and inter-societal relationships that lead us to solutions for the world's most vexing problems, I am sure of it.

You might say extracting all this "meaning" from mixing pancake batter is a bit of a stretch...but I can hardly wait to see what's cook'n for lunch!

Finally, A Personal Blog Without Constraints

I started "blogging", according to my Blogspot records, back in 2007.  My efforts to date have been pretty esoteric in nature: 1) StevensOnLeave is for publishing our personal travel memoirs, 2) PhillyITStaffing is for publishing statistics and information relevant to our business at www.TheITStaffingCompany.com, and 3) EverySAPJob - The Blog has been moved to WordPress hosted on our own server for improving SEO at our other business  www.EverySAPJob.com.

Now though, "This is Cliff" will give me the means to write about anything on my mind.  I've already written a few things of length elsewhere, such as notes on my Facebook page, some ramblings inside my EverNote and MyWriting iPad apps, and even a book published on LuLu.com.  But here, I will write whatever I want, whenever I want, and just enjoy the process of writing without constraints.

I've got a few ideas brewing, so let's see how it goes.