when you get rid of life’s annoyances, you also have gotten rid of life. Small nuisances provide texture, repose, form, cushioning. Also, a lot of our social bonding is created out of shared annoyance—much of what connects us is our small, similarly timed miseries. The more you opt out of our collective material imprisonment, the more you opt out... See more
While we’re focusing on being the best possible Protagonist in our respective inner stories, everyone else is seeing only how we’re doing in our other, more public role. If you think about what people are admired and remembered for, it’s always for the kind of Other Person they were.