ABOUT ME

 I spent much of my life chasing the extraordinary: I thought that if I lived in the most beautiful places, collected the most unique experiences, studied the most brilliant philosophical ideas, loved the most vulnerably, and strove for excellence in everything, I would finally feel happy and worthy of the gift that was my life. But, as Dylan Werner has written: “You're never going to be where you want to be unless you want to be where you are.” I found that even as I pursued the extraordinary, I still felt restless, mediocre, and alone.

 

I eventually understood that my yearning for an “extraordinary” life had to do with a profound dissatisfaction with who I was, where I came from, and what I had managed to accomplish. I didn’t feel like I was enough. I didn’t feel I was worthy of love even though so many people did love me just as I was. And I felt like an outsider everywhere I went (even in the universe itself!). 

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The ancient sages who invented philosophy always meant for it to be a practice of healing and transformation. When I did my PhD in philosophy, I was blown away by philosophy’s wisdom, power, and magic. But I wasn’t taught how to integrate philosophy into the fabric of my life.

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I realized I had been seeking belonging and perfection in the wrong way. Instead of looking for fulfillment in experiences outside of myself, I needed to integrate the wisdom I had encountered deep into the fabric of my thinking and acting. And to do that, I needed to engage in bold projects that were about re-imagining my life.