Zen and the Art of Car Maintenance

I used to be sad a lot.  My coping strategy basically consisted of buying silly things I don’t really need, which turned into a vicious cycle, since my unsteady financial situation contributed more than a little to my general unhappiness.  Now my big hobby involves ordering Toyota parts and Toyota accessories online and installing them on my car.  For awhile I wondered if anything had really changed, but when I thought it through I realized that there were important differences. 

First of all, I spend a lot less money overall.  One of the problems with buying things to feel better about yourself is that no amount of bought things will really satisfy you.  The buying habits of the super rich can attest to that.  With the car work, however, I only buy what I’m going to actually install myself, so that puts a quick limit on it.  It also takes a lot of research and time for me to learn how to do each project before I go to a website for genuine Toyota parts.  Another important difference is that I get my hands dirty.  There’s a unique satisfaction to being productive, to doing a craft that you don’t get from just buying things.  I think that the satisfaction of doing work is a good way to be happy, even if it doesn’t produce anything particularly important.

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