Parks and Recreation is brimming with some of the best scenes in TV history that continue to leave their mark long after the series has ended. (Thank God it holds up and will likely continue to!) But one moment in particular has always stood out to me, and it’s what I consider Ron Swanson’s best piece of advice. In Season 4, Episode 16, “Sweet Sixteen,” Ron tells Leslie, “Never half a$$ two things; whole a$$ one thing.“
I think about this piece of advice almost all the time, but especially during the moments when burnout hits the hardest. When you can’t keep your eyes open anymore, and it feels like every word out of your mouth is gibberish because you’re juggling too much. (Would Ron be proud that instead of taking my mental health walks to decompress, I’m on my phone writing this scene breakdown in Google Docs? Probably not, but I don’t have a choice.) There’s a great deal of wisdom in his advice, and part of the reason why it hits is because it doesn’t happen in an office space—nature makes the moment more vulnerable and more sincere. Much of what transpires here is something that I wish the world could see the significance of.
Leslie Knope is a go-getter. She’s a force to be reckoned with and the kind of person who doesn’t know how to stop and take a beat. Part of it is her passion, and the other part is the capitalist world in which we live. There’s also the idea that why shouldn’t we be able to juggle so much? How hard can it be, and why is it challenging in the first place when it’s something we’re “good” at? And Leslie is not only good at her job, but she’s exceptional at it, maybe even (definitely) perfect. But human beings aren’t designed to exclusively work. We also aren’t meant to be too many things all at once because having layers and being multifaceted doesn’t equate to perfection in every area. Still, for a myriad of reasons, Leslie thinks she can juggle it all. She believes she can campaign for city council while simultaneously continuing her taxing job at the Parks department. Yet, all of this blows up when she forgets Jerry’s birthday and planning a party weighs too heavily on her.
Additionally, we need to note that Leslie doesn’t intentionally half a$$ any of the tasks in front of her. She isn’t struggling because she isn’t giving her best, but sometimes, even the best of our abilities have limitations. Ron Swanson doesn’t give her this advice to make her feel bad or force her away, but he says it because he understands these limitations. He’s been there. There are countless mundane tasks the man loathes completing; we all know this, but Ron still does his job. At the same time, he knows how passionate Leslie is and understands that mediocrity is never good enough for her. He could take his 80% effort and be okay with it, but Leslie, being the Type A she is, sees 80% as a failure. (Leslie and I are one and the same, and it took multiple therapy sessions for me to understand that 80% isn’t failing.)
But Leslie doesn’t go to therapy, so she needs this moment to understand that it’s okay for her to give all her attention to the campaign temporarily. It’s imperative for her to grasp the fact that by spreading herself too thin, she’s harming herself and the job she vehemently loves. The state of the world has essentially forced people to feel guilty and terrible about being overwhelmed or exhausted. You work yourself to the bone for a company, the government, or wherever, yet the moment you want to take some time for yourself, corporate guilt tells you that you don’t deserve it. You haven’t actually worked hard enough. Everything will crumble if you stop.
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Ron Swanson’s hatred of the organizations at large makes so much sense the older we get because he understands the vitality of taking care of ourselves first. He might not use the same language mental health professionals do, but the message is the same: listen to your body, trust your instincts, and know your boundaries. In this episode, Leslie goes against all three of these things until Ron reminds her that she’s actively hurting herself. Sometimes, we can’t juggle everything. Sometimes, the one thing deserves our complete attention, and it doesn’t mean we’re any less than capable. It simply means we’re human.
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