How we treat 'dirty' jobs reveals something about us—both IRL and online.

This past summer, I got sidetracked by a hidden pattern. At every event and co-living space I went to, the same weakest link kept surfacing: tasks people ignore or simply don’t want to do (ie cleaning) ˙◠˙

Even the smallest cleaning task, when overlooked, impacted everyone’s experience. It’s not just about physical spaces, this avoidance shows up in the digital world too.

Avoidance in Decentralized Systems

If you consider yourself a systems thinker, chances are you’ve mastered ✩₊_˚._⋆_mental gymnastics_✩₊_˚._⋆. Acrobatic moves to bend the mind and avoid the uncomfortable. This complex reasoning often leads to avoiding essential tasks.

DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) promise shared governance and community-driven decision-making. Think of them as socio-technical experiments, revealing how we engage with governance.

In practice, however, people neglect their roles in maintaining the system. Voting or contributing to governance, like cleaning, is often overlooked. When this happens, the responsibility falls on a few, undermining the promise of DAOs.

While many DAOs still struggle with this, there are people experimenting with solutions as decentralized governance evolves. But hey, what’s more exciting than voting?

✿ Shitcoins and Shitposting ✿

It’s funny how silly, low-value, human-made content floods digital spaces and physically seeps into brains. Meanwhile, machine-driven blockchain mining quietly powers the foundation that keeps everything running.

Blockchain mining is labor-intensive, requiring machines to perform millions of calculations to validate transactions. Miners are rewarded for tasks that few would willingly do due to high energy consumption and hardware demands. By outsourcing this ‘dirty work’ to machines and distributing it across a decentralized network, the system remains resilient.

As the industry evolves, solutions like Ethereum’s shift from PoW to PoS show how digital systems can handle their ‘dirty work’ to ensure sustainability. Maybe there’s a lesson in that for us?

Creative Glory Versus Essential Labor

This viral quote implies that creative work is superior to cleaning, and most people agree without hesitation. It’s an ominous reflection on society. Are essential laborious tasks truly beneath human dignity?

I recently volunteered to oversee the cleaning of the busiest toilets at a 500-person event. What was supposed to be a simple oversight role turned into me doing the actual cleaning—because no one showed up. Watching people avoid helping was comedic (and it was heartwarming when a few legends pitched in ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡).

I channeled Mike Rowe's energy from Dirty Jobs.

It revealed a deeper truth: we don’t value the work that keeps things running. In many countries, it’s completely normal for families to have a domestic worker. The idea of cleaning is confusingly unholy in these places.

Cleanliness has long been seen as sacred across cultures and philosophies. Zoroastrianism, a religion over 3,000 years old, views physical cleanliness as a reflection of cosmic order, tying mundane tasks to a higher spiritual purpose.

Fast forward to 20th-century architect Le Corbusier, who believed that well-organized, clean spaces were essential for human creativity and productivity. Despite the vast time gap, these perspectives remind us that cleanliness supports the larger systems we rely on.

[~ Note: keep an eye out in shared spaces like co-working, festivals, and clubs, sometimes there are creative and fun solutions to toilets and cleaning ~]

ღ꧁ღ Sacred Tasks in Shared Systems ⊱ꕥ

As our lives become more networked, the energy we share in digital spaces carries the same weight as in the physical. Just as physical hygiene prevents decay, digital hygiene—through clear communication, ethical data use, and mindful online habits—prevents the breakdown of trust in shared systems.

Network spirituality connects the visible and invisible structures we rely on. Much like viewing cleanliness as cosmic order or valuing organized spaces for creativity and productivity. The smallest tasks keep our systems healthy.

Cleaning and Decomposing Are Natural Cycles in Every Living System

Seek to uncover these overlooked tasks in your blindspots. Turn them into something intentional and fun, much like nature’s quiet alchemy—foundational for building healthier systems.

TL;DR

• Cleanliness, physical or digital, is key to healthy systems and communities.
• Blockchain mining demonstrates how rewarding essential work sustains networks.
• We can look to examples that make these tasks fun, even sacred.

Much love, Dayvan

ღ꧁ღ╭⊱ꕥ

PS. If you want to support my work, I’m raising funds for a new project on Gitcoin! Alternatively, you can donate to dayvan.eth (I’ll make sure to send many blessings your way) ₊˚⊹♡ And get in touch here if you want to collaborate.

Originally posted on Substack; subscribe here.