Elegance as Discipline

How to Live a Cultivated Life in a Chaotic Age

I think there’s no need to introduce the fact that modern life is chaotic—and it’s not a coincidence. (I’ve already expressed this perspective in the latest editorial here.)

The matter that you and I both know is the hope to regain ‘structure’ and ‘moment’ within an environment that is always ready to seize our attention at any time. Which results in fragmented action, cluttered routines, and the interruption of flow—whether it’s the moment you want to sit down (or stand up) to do the work, to break away from capitalism’s calling and sit still with yourself or with the people you love, or simply to engage in activities that enrich your skill, character, and depth in life (without needing to worry about a ping on Slack or a personal DM on WhatsApp about some urgent workplace issue).

However, it is also hard to resist that chaotic entropy, especially when the demands of money and productivity never sleep. Sure, if you’re in a specific place—for instance, a small coastal town in Italy, a city in Scandinavia, or a tropical island like Bali—you might be able to embrace life at a more controllable pace more easily than in a big metropolis. But if you are in the urban metropolis, then trust me—you are playing against all odds.

The thing is, while it’s obviously harder to achieve a state of composure, elegance, and a deliberate lifestyle in a metropolitan setting compared to a life on the quieter side of the world—it’s not impossible.

But once you know the ‘taste’ of it—the importance of cultivated elegance in the quality of living—you cannot help but be drawn to the image of being in control: control of the time you wake up, control of how you use your body, the way you eat, and the life you truly want to live—without needing to wait any longer. No matter the price you have to pay to attain that ‘Dolce Vita’ (in an actual sense) in the 2020s and beyond.