Reflections On Life's Richness
In a world of noise and distraction
What truly gives life richness? It’s sometimes hard to know. In a short internet session recently I saw two articles that got me thinking, one was “Tom Holland’s Rizz: An Inside Look” and the other was “5 Places In Japan You Should Bookmark Now For 2025 Cherry Blossom Season”.
I don’t know if it was these articles or spending the day at a local WeWork surrounded by the uniquely American leisurely workplace vibe with unlimited draft kombucha and a liberal bring-your-dog-to-work policy, that made me think about where society directs our attention vs. what actually provides meaning.
It reminds me of a bit that comedian Brian Park does where he says “You know what I was thinking the other day? There has to be more to life than just buying things that subtly signal our elevated sense of taste, right?”
It’s a good observation as it’s easy to become disoriented in the blocking and tackling of the day-to-day and forget what really matters. While I can only partially emphasize with folks overly invested in celebrities (tbh I kind of get it), I more so appreciate the prospects of visiting the cherry blossoms.
However, I don’t think it would provide lasting richness. I haven’t seen the cherry blossoms, but I have seen the pyramids, and I’ve seen the sunrise over a canyon at Big Bend, and I’ve even seen the elite violinist Joshua Bell play a solo at a world class symphony center. And while all these experiences are great, you can only take them with you for so long - they don’t seem to provide a lasting sense of richness.
It’s funny, it kind of goes against that mantra “buy experiences, not things” in a way. That mantra isn’t necessarily wrong, although it might be misdirected.
At the core I believe the flaw in our collective striving is related to our tendency to (1) try to get a disproportionate amount of value from things that can’t provide it and (2) an over-emphasis on outcomes over process.
As an aside: One time a friend of mine asked his then-girlfriend, “would you go to Santorini if you couldn’t post it to Instagram?”... she said “no”.
Recently while traveling in Morocco, Egypt and Italy, I had the realization that many great spiritual traditions had millenia prior that “satisfying the urges doesn’t satisfy - it only continues the cycle.”
When I think about the things that have provided outsized richness to my life, many of them involve seeing one another or ourselves.
The first time I encountered a mentor that I felt truly understood my life
Moments where I believed in another person fully, even if they didn’t believe in themselves
An insight or experience whereby we learn to connect and accept ourselves at new depths
Consoling someone through a difficult loss or hardship
The best and most lasting things tend to be the ones that we can bring anywhere we go: authenticity, presence, emotional capacity, comfort with self, an underlying sense of trust.