Lawn Mowing: The Mental Penance

Written by Eben Smith
on September 01, 2015

 Everybody agrees that my parents have a beautiful backyard, well, everybody except my parents. If you ask them about their yard, they will give you a laundry list of things that nobody else would ever notice, but that they will obsess over until it is remedied. I think that this thought pattern is fairly typical in people, and it can help us to complete projects. The problem occurs when you don’t have the time, energy, or general willpower to dedicate to these projects or chores. We walk around with these insidious little mental “mea culpas” hammering our subconscious. Every time you walk by that mental succubus in the form of a still-boxed Ikea bookshelf, every time you drive by that neighbor’s meticulously manicured Japanese Zen Garden (I’m fairly certain these guys exist outside of the space-time continuum), or every time you walk by your overgrown lawn or flowerbeds in need of weeding, you are paying a little mental penance. It’s that little twinge that causes you to make bargains with yourself with your free time. Even worse, if you decide to just try and relax, you’ll still have your lawn mowing hanging out over your head like the Sword of Damocles (and while there is a certain segment of the population that is convinced that various bladed weaponry make for brilliant decoration choices, they will rarely be so bold as to mount them behind their recliner).

"Every time you walk by that mental succubus in the form of a still-boxed Ikea bookshelf, every time you drive by that neighbor’s meticulously manicured Japanese Zen Garden (I’m fairly certain these guys exist outside of the space-time continuum), or every time you walk by your overgrown lawn or flowerbeds in need of weeding, you are paying a little mental penance

Life is so hectic that it is a wonder that anybody can keep up. Today’s modern human is expected to raise well-adjusted kids, be informed about current events, hold parties, fight crime, get the dog dewormed, fight world hunger, create a book club that won’t devolve into a fight club, work 50+ hours a week, answer emails at home, be witty on twitter, photograph your food for Instagram, deworm your children, etc. The problem is that nobody has figured out a way to do all of this and still have time to catch a ball game or read a book that wasn’t for the book club (what the hell is Brenda’s obsession with Russian Literature? We get the point Brenda, you are incredibly complex and brooding like those 20 year olds that somehow feel that the most comfortable way to hold a book is with the cover sitting at eye level for every other patron in the coffee shop!), or just take a nap.

"Life is so hectic that it is a wonder that anybody can keep up. Today’s modern human is expected to raise well-adjusted kids, be informed about current events, hold parties, fight crime..

Enter TaskEasy! Now you can signup for lawn service that will happen every week without you having to worry about it. We’ll find a contractor for you that will stop by, mow, and send you pictures so that you can see that the work is done to your satisfaction (you can also use them to punish that guy in finance that keeps cornering you with pictures of his macaroni and cheese box collection). You’ll get to come home and walk right by your guilt-free, well-manicured lawn. Your perfectly maintained flowerbeds will give you a well-deserved moment of enjoyment, and allow you to give that Zen Garden neighbor a nod and an eye roll that says “These other guys, amiright?” Right into the house, where the kids with their Ultimate Frisbee intramural finals and constant worming needs will be waiting to greet you. You’ll still have that Ikea furniture box to glare at, and we can’t answer the email from that guy who emails the entire world at 8:30pm to prove how dedicated he is. Instead, we can remove some of that mental penance, and let you have a Saturday afternoon of watching a baseball game while in various states of unconsciousness.

The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not always reflect the views of TaskEasy.

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