Little Happier: Do You Agree: Pregnancy and Volcanoes Seem Anachronistic | Gretchen Rubin [Skip to content](#content) [  ](https://gretchenrubin.com)
- April 27, 2026
# Little Happier: Do You Agree: Pregnancy and Volcanoes Seem Anachronistic
Happier with Gretchen Rubin
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A Little Happier: Do You Agree: Pregnancy and Volcanoes Seem Anachronistic
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EPISODE NOTES
I like some of Andy Warhol’s art, but I *love* his writing. He is the most extraordinarily interesting writer and observer of human nature. I find myself quoting him all the time.
For instance, I often find myself quoting a comment he made in [*The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)*](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156717204/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0156717204&linkCode=as2&tag=thehappproj-20&linkId=KWLNIZ3DEYFCIX3C). He wrote, “When I think about what sort of person I would most like to have on a retainer, I think it would be a boss. A boss who could tell me what to do, because that makes everything easy when you’re working.”
I find that so true about work — that the hardest part about working is telling yourself what to do. Once you know what to do, things get much easier. At times I wish I had someone around who could just tell me what to do.
Sometimes, too, Andy Warhol makes observations that seem odd, eerie, or even nonsensical—but that strike a deep chord with me.
For instance, in the same book, he wrote, “When I look around today, the biggest anachronism I see is pregnancy. I just can’t believe that people are still getting pregnant.”
This is obviously a ridiculous thing to say—but somehow I feel that I know exactly what he means.
Inspired by Andy Warhol, I’ve been keeping a list of things I’d add—things that seem anachronistic, when I think, “Wow, is this still happening in the same old way?”
Here’s my list:
—volcanos erupting
—political adversaries of the Russian government being thrown out of windows
—museum guards standing in galleries
—birds causing an airplane to crash
—growing crops for food
—relying on a physical wall to keep out intruders
—heart attacks rising in frequency during the Super Bowl
Obviously, I see the absurdity—it’s ridiculous to think that growing crops for food seems anachronistic. And yet, I do have that vague feeling.
How about you? Is there anything that happens today that seems somehow anachronistic?
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