What if the problem isn't that life is hard... but that it's become too easy?
We live in a world designed to remove friction.
Food arrives at the door. Maps tell us where to turn. Algorithms decide what to watch, what to buy and, increasingly, what to think. Every inconvenience is treated as a flaw to be engineered away.
Yet despite all this convenience, many of us feel strangely distracted, disconnected and less capable than ever before.
In Grease & Grit, Tom Blanchard explores what happens when life becomes so smooth that we stop properly engaging with the world around us. From endless scrolling and shrinking attention spans to DIY, boredom, neighbourliness, mastery and resilience, this book uncovers the hidden cost of convenience-and why the small struggles we avoid are often the very experiences that help us grow.
Blending humour, sharp observation and relatable stories, Grease & Grit argues that friction isn't always the enemy. Sometimes it's the point.
This isn't a call to reject technology or romanticise the past. It's a call to use technology deliberately, while reclaiming the parts of life that can't be optimised: curiosity, capability, community and meaning.
If you've ever felt:
• overwhelmed but undernourished
• constantly connected yet oddly isolated
• surrounded by convenience but hungry for something more real
...then this book is for you.
Because a life without resistance has no plot.
