Turns out, loneliness is a double-edged sword. — I stared at the screen. Flabbergasted, I scrolled through the search results. “Loneliness: the Silent Killer.” “The Detrimental Effects of Loneliness on Your Health.” “Loneliness as Dangerous as Smoking 15 Cigarettes a Day.” These weren’t the headlines I’d hoped to find amidst a period of grave loneliness. I actually looked…

Minimalism isn’t a reversed arms race to own less; it’s actually about curation. — For years, I completely misunderstood minimalism. I used to think minimalism was about living a frugal life, eliminating as many possessions as possible, and creating a clean aesthetic. Flashy colors should be banished, I assumed. Just like owning multiple versions of the same item, physical book copies, my smoothie maker.

And how you can easily replicate it — no ticket to space required. — It’s the most merciless environment you could possibly imagine. Extreme radiation. Temperature differences of 275°F. Meteorite hazard. Zero oxygen. An infinitely dark vacuum. But the toughest part about space — as veteran astronaut Scott Kelly once said — is “being away from your loved ones, your friends, your family.” Space…

How to scan your stuff for value and filter out the clutter. — Talking about minimalist purchases may seem ironic to some people. The best minimalist purchase, these people might argue, is no purchase at all. But I think that purchases and minimalism are two sides of the same coin. How? Our purchases unveil our relationship with stuff, and talking about them makes…

Or: Why loneliness goes deeper than not having friends — Loneliness is not the same as being alone. You can feel lonely in a crowd, in marriage, and, of course, in isolation. Being alone is objective and neutral, whereas loneliness is personal, painful, and multi-faceted. And yet, our conversation around loneliness is marked by one-dimensionality and a lack of vocabulary…

A comprehensive guide to (re-)connecting with other people and yourself — A few years ago, on a frosty winter night, my loneliness hit so bad that I curled up in front of my radiator. I wanted to replicate human warmth. I wanted to cry. I wanted to feel something. But there was nothing. My chest felt like an airlock that was…

A guide to calming your impatience and rediscovering reading. — Until recently, reading anything felt straight-up strainful. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to read. I kept buying more books, my TBR had grown like bamboo on fertilizer, and, as a writer and philosophy student, reading is part of my job. …

Guidelines for simplicity that emerged from years of trial and error. — Over the past three years, I tried countless things to create a simpler, more minimalist life. To name a few: I cleared out my entire apartment, lived out of a backpack (twice), went on a pilgrimage, and radically changed my consumption habits. But I also did a lot of stupid…

Thinking (too) deeply about life is an essential human feature. — Every few months, I sink into a deep existential crisis where I question everything — who I am, what I’m doing, the point of it all. It feels like getting sucked into a vicious grinder that pulverizes any sense of purpose I created for myself. Or like waking up on…