Proper to Its Function

Years ago I kept having dreams about a beautiful building in Istanbul that had domes and minarets, but when I went inside, it was just an office building with a lobby containing a dreary fake plant, a bored receptionist, and an elevator. When I told my dad about the dreams, he said it was the Hagia Sophia, but that it isn't an office building. Not long after that I actually got to visit Istanbul, and the moment I stepped inside the magnificent Hagia Sophia, I could feel an enormous lack. It was not an office building, but it was no longer a place of worship. Now an office building does not feel sacred, but it does not have that same emptiness, almost a hunger, about it. It was built to be an office building and is proper to its function. The Hagia Sophia, however, was built for a sacred purpose, so that now that it is just a museum, it no longer has its proper function, and the loss is palpable.

Of course you knew that this post was going somewhere with palm trees and hammocks, so here it is: the proper function of humans is to be tropical and crepuscular. That's right, we are SUPPOSED to be taking midday naps under palm trees. This is why people are so crazy around here, because we are forced to live in a diurnal, temperate existence. We did not evolve to be awake all day in a cold, snowy climate. It's not proper to our function.

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