An Ode to Exigentialism: A Philosophy of Urgency

I often think about a rainy Saturday afternoon some years ago. My partner and I were lounging around in a Nolita apartment I’d rented from Airbnb to bridge a gap between leases- a classic lazy Saturday. At 3pm, the buzzer rang. A jolt of panic set in: we’d completely forgotten that we’d scheduled a showing with a real estate agent. I asked for a few minutes. Then, without a word, we launched into motion. Dishes into the dishwasher. Bed made in a flash. Towels from the floor to the rack. Sundries collected and shelved/drawered. By 3:04, the prospective lessees were touring what appeared to be a spotless apartment (it was fortunate they didn’t open certain drawers). Three aspects of the experience have stuck with me, years later: We were radically efficient — what might normally take 30 minutes was done in 3. Despite the stress, there was a distinct thrill in operating with such constraint-driven celerity. We felt better afterward than we had before: our relaxation undergirded by a sense

I often think about a rainy Saturday afternoon some years ago. My partner and I were lounging around in a Nolita apartment I’d rented from Airbnb to bridge a gap between leases- a classic lazy Saturday. At 3pm, the buzzer rang. A jolt of panic set in: we’d completely forgotten that we’d scheduled a showing with a real estate agent. I asked for a few minutes. Then, without a word, we launched into motion. Dishes into the dishwasher. Bed made in a flash. Towels from the floor to the rack. Sundries collected and shelved/drawered. By 3:04, the prospective lessees were touring what appeared to be a