Routines, algorithms and serendipity

Also: Picking up sticks in troubled times [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  March 17, 2024 Dear Cog reader, I went to New York City on Thursday for the first time since the pandemic. It’s the longest I’ve ever gone – in my life – between visits. Even though I lived in the city for five years in my 20s, in many ways, it felt like I was seeing it for the first time. It was a perfect spring day – much warmer than it should’ve been for mid-March, but the sunshine felt so good. People shed their jackets and leggings for bare arms and legs. The daffodils are blooming in Central Park. As I made my way around the city, I couldn’t help but think of Jonathan Fitzgerald’s essay. He wrote for us this week about the [dangers of the almighty algorithm](. Amazon and Google make things easy, but there’s a cost to that convenience, especially when it comes to the news. I think about the algorithm a lot. At work, we’re in a near constant guessing game about how to finagle it to our advantage. But for me, Jonathan’s piece was about something else: a loss of serendipity. I am a full-time working mother of three with a dog and a husband and a house. Unexpected things happen to me all the time (I’ve long given up on the dream of: can we please have a normal week?), but very rarely do these things delight and surprise. Two examples: I had a kid home sick this week and I’m concerned we may have flying squirrels camping out in my attic. As you get older, life gets more complicated. Because we are forced to cede our time and control to an endless stream of commitments – our children, our work, our aging parents, our pets – we build and cling to routines, figuring we might as well control what we can. But over time, if we’re not careful, it can result in a general flattening of life. We miss out on happy accidents and spontaneous fumbles that lend texture to our days. I was reminded of that yesterday while walking through Times Square (which, by the way, remains a ridiculous spectacle of overstimulation). And as I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the crush of humanity on the subway, and watched two young guys struggle to lug a green velvet couch through the West Village. For all the ease routines (and algorithms) can give us, sometimes it’s nice to go for a long walk and just see what you can see. Or flip through the newspaper, or the radio dial, and be open to a story not of your choosing. When we are always the ones deciding what to read, or listen to, or watch — or when we delegate it to technology to do that for us — we miss out on what serendipity might deliver if only we gave it a chance to intervene. I missed my train by a few minutes on my way into the city – Google Maps led me astray. But on the way home, buoyed by the day, I kept my phone in my bag and marched my way through the maze of Penn Station directed by my own common sense. I was in my seat with time to spare. I hope this weekend offers you few happy surprises. Cloe Axelson Senior Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news  Must Reads [Picking up sticks in troubled times]( The news is so bleak, it can feel difficult to do even basic tasks like going to work, filing your taxes and folding laundry, writes Holly Robinson. Her antidote? The meditative act of picking up sticks. [Read more.]( [Picking up sticks in troubled times]( The news is so bleak, it can feel difficult to do even basic tasks like going to work, filing your taxes and folding laundry, writes Holly Robinson. Her antidote? The meditative act of picking up sticks. [Read more.]( [An unexpected ally in therapy: my patient’s dog]( I knew my patient loved her dog, writes Oona Metz. 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Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 🔎 Explore [WBUR's Field Guide]( stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news     Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here.](  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.