Self-improvement

Quick question: are you a better-than-average driver? If you said yes, you’re in good company. Almost everyone does. In one of psychology’s classic studies, researcher Ola Svenson asked students in the U.S. and Sweden to rate their driving skills compared to others. The results? A whopping 93% of Americans and 69% of Swedes claimed they … Read more

I’m in awe of the creative things people can do: writing goosebump-inducing literary prose, shaping the most exquisite objects with their bare hands, or conversing with their plants so lovingly and knowledgeably that the plants respond with the most beautiful flowers and juiciest fruits. Blessed they are. I’ve always felt creatively stunted when it comes … Read more

As I mentioned earlier, we were traveling across Europe on a two-week trip that involved too many cities (courtesy of my FOMO—previously documented), and every imaginable mode of public transportation: flights, trains, buses, and taxis. Which is a long-winded way of saying: luggage space was limited. Now, I’m still a long way from traveling in … Read more

Travel is great. I highly recommend it. Most people travel for the usual reasons—to see the world, experience new cultures, take a break from their daily grind, or just relax. Every single one of them, a noble pursuit in itself, is enough to justify any misadventures. But, let me add, perhaps, the best reason to … Read more

Here is a list of fifty reasons I’m grateful—small and big freedoms I have the privilege to enjoy. Some of these are trivial, while others may sound a bit more profound. Many of these are freedoms from constraints that have historically or culturally existed.  A few are self-imposed limits I’ve carried for years, only now … Read more

I don’t know why we’re here, but I’m pretty sure it’s not to enjoy ourselves. Wittgenstein. I have often heard people say, “You are exactly where you need to be.” They believe that everything happening in our lives—to us, around us—is part of a grand plan of self-discovery and personal growth. It sounds profound. I’ll … Read more

Bernard, one of Virginia Woolf’s fictional characters in The Waves (1931), offers this hauntingly relatable monologue Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires…I am not so gifted as at one time seemed likely. Certain things lie beyond my scope. I shall never understand the harder problems of philosophy. Rome is the limit … Read more

Let us accept the natural order in which we move. Let us reconcile ourselves to the mysterious rhythm of our destinies, such as they must be in this world of space and time. Let us treasure our joys but not bewail our sorrows. Winston Churchill It’s been a difficult few weeks. Talk of cancer—multiple diagnoses—has … Read more

The source of all pleasures is the satisfaction of the stomach. Epicurus I’m exhausted already—even before I start writing, because I’ve spent too much time eating (carb-loading). Now I’m in a full-on food coma. It occurs to me now that if only I had spent even a tenth of the time I’ve spent thinking about … Read more

It may sound odd, but in this era of lifestyle vloggers, social media influencers, and ubiquitous life coaches who seem to have it all figured out, talking about impostor syndrome feels out of place. And yet, if we tune into the people we meet IRL (in real life—not the curated highlight reels online), we’ll see … Read more

Though it sounds Shakespearean, the idiom Misery loves company wasn’t coined by the Bard—the ultimate master of stories on power, revenge, and the messy depths of the human condition. The idiom is thought to have roots in Latin and classical literature. The phrase “Misery loves company” is just a pithy way of saying that when … Read more

If you asked me what I like to do to unwind, I wouldn’t hesitate to rattle off a list: run, read, write, play my instrument, and cook (sometimes). Every single one of these is something I voluntarily do—something I wouldn’t hesitate to say I “enjoy” doing. And yet, for a couple of weeks, I couldn’t … Read more

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; stand a little taller. Kelly Clarkson Paraphrasing a sentiment Friedrich Nietzsche expressed nearly a century earlier, the title track of Kelly Clarkson’s album Stronger stands as a modern anthem of resilience. The song was a massive hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and cementing itself as one of … Read more

As I write this, I have six browser tabs open, my daily to-do list is glaring at me from my peripheral vision, and I hear the faint ticking of a clock in the background. The muffled chatter of my household fills the air—it’s just enough noise to distract me, but not enough for me to … Read more

Are we all, in one way or another, caught up in our own version of the Immortality Project? For as long as humans have understood mortality, we have raged against it. From ancient alchemists searching for the elixir of life to Silicon Valley billionaires funding longevity research, the human species has been keen to escape … Read more

Ever had one of those days where you pause mid-email, stare at your screen, and think, “What’s even the point of all this?” Well, congratulations, you’ve just had your first existential crisis of the day. Don’t worry, they only get more frequent as you get older. I’m at that age where I realize life’s a … Read more

There’s a famous Buddhist parable about the second arrow. The parable invokes a vivid metaphor: imagine walking through a serene forest when suddenly, you are struck by an arrow. The sharp pain you feel is undeniable—this represents the first arrow, the unavoidable hardships of life; most of the time, you have no control over such … Read more