Are We Really Living Our Best Life?

I don't drive, something I gave up while incorporating minimalism into my lifestyle. I have a fixed utility bill, not including the internet, because I live in a building that is over 100 years old. I am a party of one, without even a fur baby, so the grocery bills are minimal, especially since I am on a diet. It may not feel like it if you follow me on IG Stories, but I've lost fifteen pounds as I type this. So far, I haven't felt the sticker shock of the brinkmanship war in the Strait of Hormuz.

Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California

I know I live in a bubble. I am sure I am impacted, but I haven't felt the punch yet because a rapid rate of consumption is not part of my life, though I have defaulted to it whenever my life has been invaded by the obliviously prejudiced, triggering traumatic stress. While the mindless and ignorant are unavoidable, I eventually retreat to my bubble to heal and reset, making the damaging party persona non grata. As a former therapist put it, it may take me a while, but when I leave, I leave in a very healthy way.

While I may not have much in the way of materialism, my bubbled life feels luxurious to me. There is no chasing in my life: not the paycheck, not that viral house, car, trip, meal, or experience. I won't sell who I am for what the world expects me to be.

This brinkmanship war got me curious about the amount of global strategic oil inventory, the world's emergency stockpile. Based on the current global consumption rate, there are about 24 days of reserves. While there isn't a reason to panic, since only a quarter of the world's oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz, it is something to wonder about if another catastrophic event clogs that flow of energy. We often move through life assuming that what we need will always be available when we need it. Most of us rarely think about the systems that support our daily lives until something threatens them.

We see buzzwords: slow living, intentional living, mindfulness, work-life balance, and living our best life across our feeds. But how many of us truly see influencers practicing what they are selling? We see carefully curated snippets, often literally less than two minutes out of 1,440 minutes in a day. Beyond the buzzwords, how many of us have meaningfully changed our lifestyles, habits, and consumption rates so our footprints are less and gentler?

It isn't criticism but a question when the world seems determined to blame everyone except itself. How many people with able bodies walk everywhere within a one-mile radius rather than hopping into a car? How many of us circle a parking lot multiple times rather than parking and walking? How many of us consume what is supposedly environmentally friendly while maintaining the same rate of consumption? What if we only grocery shopped for what we can physically carry back to our homes and not what our cars can? What if we simply consumed less?

Have you ever sat and watched someone at work, someone you claimed as a coworker or even a friend, be treated unfairly or even cruelly, and just watched while convincing yourself that you were powerless or that it was simply the way things were? I hope you don't have people you love: children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, or siblings. Imagine them being treated unfairly while people just watch in silence. Evil still exists in this world because most of us have remained silent.

Living our best life has become one of the most overused phrases of the modern era. It appears on social media captions, wellness podcasts, marketing campaigns, and self-help books. Yet the phrase often seems to describe aspiration rather than action. We speak about intentional living while making impulsive purchases. We speak about mindfulness while remaining glued to our devices. We speak about work-life balance while accepting workplaces that erode our health, dignity, and relationships.

Perhaps living our best life is not found in what we add but in what we remove. Less consumption. Less noise. Less chasing. Less need for validation from people who do not share our values. Less tolerance for environments that require us to become someone we are not.

The older I get, the less interested I am in accumulating things, status, or experiences for the sake of appearances. What feels luxurious to me now is a quiet walk, a space that meets my needs, food that nourishes me, work that aligns with my values, and the freedom to leave spaces that diminish my humanity.

Maybe living our best life is not about finding more. Perhaps it is about finally knowing what we don't need.

_____

More essays:

Confessions of a Former Poll Worker

All Is Not Fair in Marriage, But Should You At Least Get Some Justice?

ChatGPT, Where Is Your Ethics?

After the Silence: The Unraveling of César Chávez

Men We Love

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