Life

It’s notoriously easy to slip into the unconscious assumption that any such aliveness is for later: after you’ve sorted your life out; after the current busy phase has passed; after the headlines have stopped being quite so alarming. But the truth for finite humans is that this, right here, is real life.

Studies of individuals who report high life satisfaction consistently show one pattern: they engage in activities with naturally extended feedback loops. Mastery of skills, service to others, deep relationships, creative expression—all require tolerating periods of boredom or frustration before delivering their rewards.

“Life runs on sunlight. Life rewards cooperation. Life builds from the bottom up. Life banks on diversity. Life recycles everything. Life builds resilience through diversity, decentralization, and redundancy. Life optimizes rather than maximizes. Life selects for the good of the whole system. In short, life creates the conditions conducive to... See more