You shall not do it alone!

Igmar Kampvard Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (the founder, his farm and his village) is the world’s largest furniture retailer. He sells ‘well priced, well designed, functional home furnishings that people can afford.’ Also goes by the acronym IKEA!

We needed a popup kitchen for the yurt. The demo had a single sink, place to hang pans, everything opens and closes, and when we picked it up, it was so cleverly flat-packed that it all slid nicely into the back seat. An entire kitchen.

I am not a great rule follower and usually dump the instructions before I can get through all the heli- parent warnings and small print warranties. But Igmar Kampvard surprised me. Right there before we even turned to step 1 in the manual, I discovered so much more.

My fellow humans, is it not true that all we want is a little happiness and an easy escape to avoid suffering?... I’ll take that as a collective nod. And are we not on constant lookout for the delight that comes from small successes, you know, like crossing out another item on your to-do list, or separating different types of screws in an IKEA package? True all that. So evidently, these IKEANS really get us human folks and this is what I discovered in their sacred texts, as spoken by IK himself:

1. This unfolding box is our co-creation. Do.

2. You will love more what you yourself have a hand in creating. Do it.

3. Be fearless for you have everything you need to be successful. Do it anyway.

4. Frustration is not failure. It is passion. Do it anyway, stupid.

5. IKEAN blob guides are made in my image. They know the way. Follow. No words and no reading glasses necessary.

6. You shall not create alone. Go.

7. You shall not cry alone. Go grab.

8. You shall not laugh alone. Go grabba. (awkward, sorry)

9. You shall not journey alone. Go grab a friend!

10. You shall not fail alone. Go grab a friend, stupid.

Thus spake the IKEANS. On the very first page. Yes, we make stuff happen. That is good. But our happiness is not ours alone, it is a mesh of goodwill shared. Who loves you and who do you love and who is parceling out the different screws into little saucers.