Not because you helped that lady pick up the coins she spilled on the ground that time. Not because you're in better shape than you used to be. Not because you earn a competitive salary. And not because you're hurting for a job. Not because of how well you can banter via text (that skill won't hurt, but still). Not because of how proud you've made your dad. Or your third grade teacher. Or your ...

Living in balance with stuff is my forte. I am what some might term "obnoxiously selective verging on compulsive" about the items that come into my world (no time for an ugly calculator around here). And so, I love what I own. Each individual thing is my favorite version of that thing. But if they were to disappear tomorrow, I know I would be fine. Things are just things. They come and go. They get ...

What I remember most about going over to my cousins' house when I was young was how noisy it was. How the honking shrieks of Disney movies would ricochet through the rooms at seemingly all hours of the day. Occasionally, my cousins would abandon the movies midway through; Aladdin or Ursula bellowing on in the empty room. With no one watching, the characters’ voices seemed even louder. Coming from Casa Kumbaya essentially, the noise was ...

Leisure is not innate to American society. We don’t build rest into our daily schedules. We are not in the habit of lingering around the dinner table long after the meal is finished. We rarely take mission-less strolls. Leisure is for young children, we think. Or, leisure is reserved for women of a certain socioeconomic circle who have no other obligations save for luxuriating and galavanting. Leaving time for leisure feels risky in a society ...

Forget success. Forget status. Do not aim to ascend the corporate ladder with greater speed than those before you. Do not try to attain "enoughness." Stop your endless quest to build yourself up into a person other people take note of, so great is your success and your status and your corporate ladder ascension. There are myriad external measures one can apply to oneself, each of which is more spiritually inconsequential than the next. But ...