November 14, 2025
The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.
Chuck Palahniuk
As part of our cultural norms and biological systems, there is a seemingly never-ending quest for more, and bigger, and better. It’s hard to resist in the face of relentless marketing that wants you to believe that happiness is only a few dollars away.
I’ve known people who hoard. Not happy. I’ve known people who buy luxurious products. Not happy. I’ve known people who take glamorous trips. Not happy. Until you figure out that you are responsible for your own happiness, and that the wound inside you can’t be patched by the next dopamine hit, you will continue to suffer the same miserable fate.
The only way out, is in. It’s to understand that happiness is an inside job. No product or purchase or party or person is going to make you happy. It’s all within. I know it’s trite but it’s the capital-T truth, and in the throes of day-to-day life, we often need to be reminded of it.