Being satisfied….

I was watching a video of how Patek designed and assembled their grandmaster chime, 20 complications wristwatch. Apparently it costs over a million USD. And I thought of the $75 Orient on my wrist, my compromise grail. Is it possible to ever be satisfied in life?

Oppressed by masses of sinful people, I took to the road, seeing new things every day. Then I took to spending money online buying. Finally I write -a little too much actually, to tell my life’s story. And I find that once a person is made to bear others’ hearts, that a delicate balance tips and something precious is broken, foreseeably forever lost.

Being satisfied isn’t the string of thoughts and emotions we form from our ventures and conquests. Far less the lifeless idols of metal and wood that fuel them. It forms, not from peace in idleness, nor in diligence. It is not the big payoff every month. Satisfaction is not even salvation. It is not any higher purpose. Rather, being satisfied is achieving long lasting balance in life. It is stability. This is not (again) telling yourself a sweet (prophetic) story, but is a physical, concrete thing, also digital.

Even Mother Teresa had doubts later in life. Her satisfaction lay purely in relationships and deeds. If she had made artworks, she would have more peace. If she had invented a machine, written a better Bible, or won the Miss Universe contest when she was younger. It matters that you’re skilled yet have shared nothing with the world, that you have possessions not put to work, that you dream but never move the hearts of others, just your own, in futility to feel satisfied.

In a nutshell, we cannot have invisible satisfaction, even that which exists in the ether of feelings between hearts. We require balance, which comes from repetition of physicality. Having a goal just leads to further chasing after the wind. So like the constancy in the beats of a Patek, within its ornate case, amid its hundreds of minute parts, there is real satisfaction even if you do not own one!

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For example, this morning, I put on my Casio black resin tank. It cost me $19 including a nicer strap and is my cheapest watch. Wearing this piece, I see no need for a Reverso or Tank Must. And the reason is not that I’m cheap, much less holy, not even a dreamer-ascetic to pad my pride! Wearing this Casio fills me with satisfaction that someone cares to make a watch well, at an affordable price point -and that I own one all for myself. I swapped its strap for lizard embossed leather not because I hypocritically desired more luxury, but because it made the watch much more believable for little coin -like proper dress watches look. Thus I perpetuate humble perfection through my presence.