---
date: 2019-08-14
weight: 5
---

A friend asked Maddy: why are you nailing boards together?

Maddy said: I'm building a house to live in.

When the friend came back later, there was an awkward jumble of sticks nailed together on the ground. They said: well that was dumb.

Some time later, the friend visited Maddy and asked: why are you frowning?

Maddy said: I paid someone to build me a house, but it's round, upside down, and a mile to the east of where it should be.

The friend shrugged and said: well that was dumb

Some time later, the friend visited Maddy and found her reading on the front porch of a cozy home. They said: did you build this?

Maddy said: no, but I did my part.

The friend laughed and sat down next to Maddy to read with her.

<!-- Maddy tries to do everything actively, to fix her broken mind, and fails. Maddy tries to do everything passively and pays sometime else, and fails, as how could they know the universal, when Maddy can only tell them the particulars? Maddy succeeds when she does her work and others do theirs. -->
