“Reflection matters because it is continuous with practice. How you think about what you are doing affects how you do it, or whether you do it at all. It may direct your research, or your attitude to people who do things different, or indeed your whole life.”

One of the best ways you can show productivity trust = modeling and embracing “blank time.”

In recent years, I've begun to suspect that a life consumed by ideas will not bring me closer to the divine. The freedom I seek, it seems, doesn't lie in my laying about, steeped in my own brain, but rather in the stillness I've found in the more mundane moments of my life. In these moments, there is no euphoria, nor even any active reflection on g... See more

Why would rational and intelligent people want to contort their lives like a hyper-kinetic yoga instructor jacked up on an all-day energy drink?

Surely, it has something to do with our obsession with doing, over just being, and the endless pursuit of excitement, which we mistake for happiness. Add to this our collective fear that we will run out of... See more

In Greek, charisma translates as a “gift.” Rather than keep that gift to exploit for themselves, some charismatic people disperse it. They hand it out at social events, such as the holiday parties at this time of year, and use it to guide the energy of a shared occasion. I call these people vibe popes. Consider it a nondenominational title for thos... See more

The monotony of life contains a reservoir of ways to find relief, if we can only muster the courage and energy to dive in instead of opting out. If today you find yourself bored with your work—perhaps surfing around and reading some random essay on happiness—you may have just gotten a signal from the universe that it’s time for your spirit to evolv... See more

I guess if we’re talking about joy, writing, and being a fully rendered person in the world, my main sources of liveliness are so human and obvious they might seem facile: 1) loving the people I love with full throttle abandon – my guy, our kids, my mom and dad, our gaggle of brothers, my army of girlfriends. So that’s advice, maybe: make as many g... See more

We love to convince ourselves that things are circumstantial. Like, I love painting, but I don’t paint anymore because I’m too bus y. Like, I’m not really happy with my suburban life, but I’m trapped in it indefinitely . But what if these things aren’t circumstantial? Instead of blaming the external world, imagine believing that some part of me wan... See more