A twelve-hour cook disappears in twenty minutes at the table. That’s not a waste. That’s the point.

The ratio between making and enjoying is lopsided in nearly everything worth doing, and that is not a flaw in the design. Hours of care get spent so that a short stretch of time can be genuinely good, and the shortness is part of why it is good. Judging the effort by how long the result lasts misses what the effort was for.

Make one thing this week that takes far longer to produce than to use: a meal, a card, a playlist for somebody. Stay at the table while it gets enjoyed instead of tidying up.