Utility

Laborers use tools. Tools are necessary to complete work more safely and speedily. In the factory, shop, or site the most adaptable and effective tools rise from the ranks of the toolchest. They find themselves closer at hand. These tools reside on the worker’s toolbelt.

A toolbelt shall not be cumbersome. An awkward toolbelt can become a hazard or slow work. Each job may require a different set of most effective tools. The tools on a belt may change depending on the job.

Many jobs share common tools on a belt: a light for seeing; a knife for cutting; a marker for marking, pliers for gripping, a wrech for wrenching etc. Other jobs require special tools on the belt. Some tools are so adaptable they become more than a tool. They become a utility.

A “utility” is something that is used, serving, or working on several capacities as needed, especially.¹

A toolbelt is more than a tool itself. The toolbelt makes critical tools more accessible. A toolbelt carries various tools on a person at different times. A toolbelt is an organizing system, a timesaving pocket, and sometimes a cupholder. The toolbelt itself is a utility.

Choice

Life is laborious sometimes.

To me, it seems wise to work through life’s labored times by equipping myself with safe and speedy tools to attend the needs of the moment.

Over the years, I collected a small catalog of raincoats for weathering the labors of life. Most maladaptive for most storms. Many effective enough. Nearly all unfashionable.

For the sake of the metaphor and my rumbling stomach, let’s pretend these raincoats are “tools” one might find on a toolbelt. There’s too many for me to wear on my belt at once. It’s cumbersome and awkward. Some need to go back to the toolchest (or the closet if you’d prefer to mix metaphors).

Which will stay on the toolbelt? Many jobs share a common set of tools that could go on the belt, after all. Why not have the most adaptive and effective set of tools on my Toolbelt for Life that I can?

Many of the tools are similar enough. I’ve got six raincoats and three kinds of sunscreen. I may do best choosing the most adaptive of each type.

How should I know what the best tools are?

We have an abundance of spiritual wisdom from millenia of human history. Great and ancient teachers teach principles that resonate with our sense of shared humanity throughout the ages. Great teachers of all stripes preach principles like truth, non‑violence, compassion, and service to others. These principles are tools for us to use. And like any tool, they take practice to use and improve else our skills with them will degrade over time.

I can’t help but wonder:

• Is the primary value of spiritual practice the honing of the utility of the practice’s principles for use in everyday life? Partly, so I think.
• Is mindfulness the toolbelt of the spirit? Mostly partly, I think.