Natalie Audelo

Only that nothing works out the way you plan, which is a blessing every hour. Life always takes a different form, if only because life will always be more imaginative — deeper, wiser, more surprising — than you are.

I liked mattering. I can live with less money and with “regular” cars and without a job title ... it’s very possible to live a very nice life without those things. But mattering ... yeah, I miss that. I want to figure out how to matter again1. Let’s put a pin in that one, consider it a work in progress.

“Life is always winking at us, calling our attention to the beauty hidden in plain sight. Why do we so often miss what’s right in front of us, lost in thought, constantly checking our phones or tethered to endless to-do lists?”

But if our fundamental goal is to create more relationships with each other, to build trust, enable collaboration and unlock creativity, we need to think more widely about the kinds of openness we need. We also need to consider the kinds of technological platforms, legal mechanisms and organisational structures that are necessary to support it.

The meaningful middle is where everything that matters actually happens.

This reorientation toward meaning over materialism is beginning to take root elsewhere, too.

"You must cultivate activities that you love. You must discover work that you do, not for its utility, but for itself, whether it succeeds or not, whether you are praised for it or not, whether you are loved and rewarded for it or not, whether people know about it and are grateful to you for it or not. How many activities can you count in your life... See more

There are no certainties in life, in pregnancy, in parenting, or in advice columns, dear Mama-To-Be. There’s seldom a way to know which direction, which choice, which yes or which no will be the right one, but there’s always a way to do the best you can with generosity and loving kindness. And more than anything, that’s what I hope you and your par... See more

A common misconception about generalists is that our broad scope of interests and experiences precludes us from achieving mastery. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Generalists are capable of going deep; our path to mastery just looks different—more non-linear and richly textured.