Finding Meaning

Enjoying the little things...Ideas of meaning and purpose exist on a huge scale, but they remove us from the value in the everyday. Instead of worrying about what it all “means” in the face of eternity ask: what if I only had today? This wakes you up to the preciousness of pointless and forgettable moments.

We ask too much of our lives, sometimes. We wait for a sense of meaning to stride onstage in a cape, announcing itself in love everlasting or revolutionary purpose. We want to escape the senseless things that happen to us, or find a way to resolve sense into them. We want our actions and experiences to feel victorious, purposeful in their own... See more

This disconnect between culturally mandated politics and the actual demonstrated preferences of most Americans has created an enormous reserve of unmet needs—and a generational opportunity. Build new things! Create great art! Understand and accept that sensory information is the brain’s food, and that Silicon Valley is systematically starving us of... See more

People are happy enough rich, and people are happy enough poor. But it’s hard to imagine anyone happy without a feeling that their actions have some impact, however small. Even if you’re not going to be remembered by history, you want to be remembered by your barista. The prisoner, though largely robbed of power, is probably happier if he can vex... See more

“If you think globally, you become filled with gloom. But if you take a little piece of this whole picture—my piece, our piece, this is what I can do here, I’m making a difference and they’re making a difference over there, and so are they, and so are they—gradually the pieces get filled in. And the world is a better place because of you.”... See more