Exile Lifestyle

Perfect self-knowledge is a dot on the horizon that’s always in view but seldom seems to get any closer, no matter how rapid or ardent our pace. Unusual moments in time tend to amplify our propensity for navel-gazing, but for…

Growth is a process, not an act. Cultivation, too, is defined not by what we accomplish in any given moment, but how we iterate over time. Reminding myself of this, I find, helps me progress past the countless imperfections in…

Automation, outsourcing, and identifying and utilizing shortcuts are legitimate and—at times—marvelous means of achieving cumbersome goals. Some tasks can be unloaded onto software, triggered by if-then tripwires, and completed with the same or better quality as a human being could…

Today’s circumstances won’t last forever. Who we are, the way we live, the things we do—they’re all impermanent. The transient nature of everything can be panic-inducing, but there’s power in temporariness, even when it’s not always obvious or the first…

I’m not the best podcaster in the world, but I’ve produced nearly 250 episodes of one show and about 85 of another over the past four-ish years. I’m not the best writer in the world, but I’ve published a few…

What do I hope to achieve, here? Whether I’m traveling or holding still for a while, asking myself why I’m where I am and what ambitions I have for my time in that place helps ground me and reminds me…

I can’t prevent devastating storms, keep my local grocery store from selling out of my favorite product, or make someone else behave in a way that is more convenient for my preferences. These are issues over which I have little…

These days, I make part of my living doing news analysis. In practice, this means spending a lot of time reading: the news, but also all the stuff that informs and becomes the news, including history books, research papers, tweets…

I’ve been thinking about needs and where they come from, of late. In particular, how needs and wants differ, but also how that distinction doesn’t necessarily take us as far as it might in terms of helping us determine what…

We don’t fully appreciate some things until they’re gone. We might intellectually know that we’d miss them, and may even recall a previous absence that struck us like a bell, reverberating through seemingly disconnected aspects of our routines and priorities…