Niki Dunagin

I’ve started to think about the idea of the trophy job — a job that people covet for its status more than its substance.

Every time you do something hard on purpose, your mind takes note.

You stop seeing yourself as fragile.

You start trusting yourself again.

In Japanese, there’s a word for this: gaman (我慢), enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity. There’s no real English synonym, which might explain why we’re drowning in the male loneliness epidemic, dopamine addiction, hustle-culture nihilism, and the self-care industrial complex.

Which is why I think the modern idea of “self-care” is quietly killing our confidence. We’re told to cancel the plan, block the number, cut the “toxic” people, and shrink our world until it feels safe and cozy. But safe isn’t the same as alive.

Maybe I’m a masochist, but how else are you supposed to get wonderful relationships, deep skills, and... See more

The brand is about abundance - about being a student in life. Dua is the final realization of a European pop star - embodying truly equal parts work and play, eshewing contemporary it girl capitalist side ventures (i.e., a shoddily-made skincare/makeup brand) in favor of promoting cultural and literary fluency, not likely for any large monetary... See more

The structures remain. The offices still gleam. The meetings still happen. The emails still flow. But the faith that this activity means something, that it's building towards something worthwhile, that it justifies the life hours it consumes, that faith is evaporating.

I keep meeting people who describe their jobs using words they'd never use in normal conversation. They attend meetings about meetings. They create PowerPoints that no one reads, which get shared in emails no one opens, which generate tasks that don't need doing.