As humans, we’re nudged by our biologies to wonder what’s on the other side of every mountain and driven to push ever-outward in a million directions at once. We’re not built to tolerate uncertainty. It’s stressful! It might portend danger.…
I tend to believe the truism, “There’s no bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Many times I’ve found myself in the middle of storms, walking through ice-glazed landscapes, slogging along humid paths and beaches, and my enjoyment or misery will be…
Adopted belief systems can be pernicious, because while we may justifiably assume the value-defining elements in our lives are our own—constructed from homemade blueprints and self-mortared bricks—many of them are inherited (from family or culture), transmitted (from marketing messages or…
Most mornings, I make and drink two small mugfuls of black coffee. After trying dozens of different coffee-prep approaches, I landed on hand-grinding beans and steeping them in an inverted Aeropress as my preferred method. This routine of placing the…
Over the past handful of years I’ve thought a lot about not just my work, but the totality of the work I’ve ever done, am doing, and will do. This is a different exercise than mulling over a single essay…
One of the more reliable ways to ensure you have a good time when traveling is to commit to flexibility and improvisation, rather than becoming rigid about your peripatetic plans. This doesn’t mean giving up on your plans or folding…
A heightened awareness of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and how our actions and words and public personae might be interpreted by others can be a source of satisfaction or shame. And the line between one and the…
Over the years I’ve learned to run toward foreboding feelings when I identify them. I’ve consistently found value in noting and confronting things that scare me; small things, substantial things, dangerous things at times. Much of this value is derived…
We’re living through a period of inconvenient, dangerous, uncomfortable upheavals. The variables shaping our lives are changing daily and many of us feel some combination of frustrated, scared, exhausted, and desperate for a semblance of clarity and control. That’s how…
I initially feel an unnerving isolation when I’m disconnected from the wider world. Such moments are often forced upon me by circumstance: when mid-flight over a vast expanse of ocean or tucked betwixt bags and chickens and goats while rambling…