Leaky Pipes

On January 6th I came back to my New York City apartment after two weeks away to find both my kitchen and bathroom faucets dripping badly, plus a massive leak above my shower providing a steady drumbeat into the tub. Thankfully, I am privileged to engage in what I like to call Homeowning Lite by living in a condo in a full service building, so I called the maintenance crew and they very kindly fixed all the problems over the course of a week or so. But I’ll tell you, when you’re already questioning whether or not you want to live in this city any longer, coming back to water, water everywhere in your pre-war building doesn’t exactly push you toward Stay.

Anytime a lot of similar things seem to be going “wrong” I try to look for what the Universe might be asking me to metaphorically consider. It is, of course, a game of pretend and story writing, but so is most of human existence so why not look for insight?

What is a “leak”? The Middle Dutch, Old Norse, and Old English roots all stem back to one Proto-Germanic word, “lek,” meaning deficiency. A leak in a pipe is a deficiency in the system. If there is no leak, the system works. If there is deficiency, your system is broken.

If a system is working well, in your day to day movements you shouldn’t actually have to think about it. Though I try to stay thoughtful and grateful of the fact that ample, potable water flows into my home with such ease (for now), generally speaking, when everything is ok I’m not thinking about my pipes and faucets. But when the system breaks down, suddenly I’m thinking about pipes and faucets CONSTANTLY.

I think the same is true of governing bodies and leadership. If the government or the structure of a company or the structure of an organization is working well, you don’t actually think about that system. When needs are met and cared for, when communication is flowing and trustworthy, those of us who are served by the system shouldn’t have to consider it too often. However, if we are forced to think about the systems all the time, you can be guaranteed, the system doesn’t work. There are leaks - deficiencies.

I shouldn’t need to think about the president, the governor, the mayor, with the frequency that I have to think about them now. None of us should. The pipes are leaking. And they leak on some of us more than others. Nonetheless, these pipes - these leaders - are there to serve me. To serve you. As their constituent - from the Latin “To cause to stand” - they do not exist if we do not exist, and as public servants they are required to serve us, regardless of our vote.

The question becomes, when you have an ideologically divergent constituency, how do you serve everyone? I don’t know the answer, but I know the best leaders - the best functioning pipes - can handle multiple needs of a system, and figure out creative ways to do so. Donald may be full of fear, greed, vengeance, and most of all a desire to stay out of prison, but he has found himself in the job of Public Servant, and we must constantly remind him, that he serves us.

I would love to stop thinking about the pipes. I would love for people who don’t look like me to be able to stop thinking about the pipes. I would love for anyone regardless of financial comfort and, say, the privilege of a building maintenance crew to be able to stop thinking about the pipes. Because, when you’re thinking about the pipes, you can’t think about other things, and that, of course, is by design.

Collaboration, communication, connection, are all acts of fixing pipes. They are the puddy and steel and joins that will ultimately create a functional system. May you rest today, put down your phone, turn off the tv, and be kind to yourself. If you can, choose not to think about the pipes.