Understanding entropy will set you free

Apr 05, 2024

Dearest Friends,

The sun is shining after a week of rain, bringing a sense of order to the wet garden. My neighbour’s deep purple lilac blush is blooming, and I can see it from a bird’s eye view from my studio window. Sometimes, when I’m tucked in my attic studio I get the feeling of radical perspective that one feels while looking out of the window of an airplane. As if one has been momentarily plucked out of the stickiness of daily life, and one can see things for what they really are.

I have been thinking about entropy lately, and how freeing the idea is.

Basically, entropy is the lack of order or predictability in any system, and its gradual and inevitable decline into disorder. The Greek root of the word translates to “a turning towards transformation.” And that transformation is towards chaos.

At first glance, this might not seem encouraging or freeing, but hear me out…

We can see entropy everywhere. We dust our house, and a week later it is dusty again. Disorder slowly creeps up on us. We organize our desks, and before we know it, there are piles of miscellaneous papers scattered around. We manage to do yoga for a few days in a row, and then life takes hold, and we break our streak.

None of that is your fault.

It is entropy.

Unavoidable. Inevitable. Disorder is not a mistake; it is a default. Order is always temporary.

We make efforts to reduce disorder. We tidy our house. We cut our hair. We exercise and eat well. All the while knowing full well that at any moment we will have to do it all again. We recommit to our routines and habits, despite constantly being knocked off track.

Entropy is what keeps us on our toes; our task, every day, is to hold it at bay.

“The … ultimate purpose of life, mind, and human striving: to deploy energy and information to fight back the tide of entropy and carve out refuges of beneficial order.”

Steven Pinker

While this may sound futile; I find that it actually feels very freeing. I’ve been holding myself to unachievable standards. I have been expecting order to be easy, and when it hasn’t been easy, I have blamed myself.

But the inevitable chaos in the universe isn’t my fault, it isn’t your fault, it just… is.

The fact that we have to start again every day is the whole point. Try to do your yoga, if not today, then tomorrow. Dust your mantlepiece, again. Reign in the clutter. Heat your coffee, again (as it went cold an hour ago). Correct the mistake you made this morning. And don’t be too hard on yourself in the process.

Even though we can’t prevent entropy, we can curb it, control it, work with it, and understand it. And most of all, we can realize that in an entropic system (which is all systems), perfection cannot exist. Perfection is an artificial concept. The minute we reach “perfection,” disorder will start to creep in, attempting to transform it gradually back into chaos. So, don’t try to strive for perfection, rather, strive for daily excellence (however that looks for you). And know that your standard of excellence will probably change from day to day depending on your circumstances. Strive for a job well done, or contentment in this moment. Do your best, and be gentle with yourself.

Each day is a new beginning.

And if each day is a new beginning, each day is also an opportunity for renewal and reinvention.

Do your shoulders feel a little lighter? Mine do.

Life always gets out of hand, because that is what it will do naturally. It isn’t our fault. Any system veers towards disorder.

Your job is just to do the best you can in this moment; that is all. And to find joy in the process. The process is everything.

Sending huge hugs,

Jane

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