Category: Meaning, Purpose, and Hard Questions

• Surrounded, Still Alone

  This essay explores why we feel lonely even when we are around a bunch of people.

  

• The Duck Pond

  A simple fable about fear, consequences, and why sometimes the best choice is to go after what you want anyway.

  

• What I Learned on Vacation

  A chance meeting with an older couple on a trip to Washington, D.C., left me with a piece of advice I have carried for the rest of my life.

  

• The Smartest Stupid Movie: The Jerk

  Steve Martin’s The Jerk may look like a mindless comedy, but it gives a surprisingly serious answer to one of life’s biggest questions: What is the purpose of life?

  

• Before It Is Too Late

  A short reflection that invites us to examine our own choices, our relationships, and the kind of person we are becoming.

  

• When Love Argues with the Equation

  One decision, the people pulled into its consequence, and the grief that love keeps trying to answer — a reflection on The Twilight Zone episode “The Cold Equations.”

  

• Me-Colored Glasses

  Empathy helps us care, but it does not always help us see. Sometimes we judge another person’s life from the outside and mistake our own feelings for the truth.

  

• The Part We Play

  How much of the emotional world around us is shaped by what we pass from one person to another? A reflection on how small interactions ripple outward—and the part we…

  

• Why Loneliness Isn’t Just About Being Alone

  Loneliness is not always about being physically alone. Sometimes it’s the quiet feeling of moving through life unseen, even while surrounded by others. This reflection explores vulnerability, human connection, and…

  

• Why Freedom Frightens Us

  A reflection on Erich Fromm’s Escape from Freedom and the idea that freedom is not always comforting. This essay explores why uncertainty, responsibility, and choice can feel emotionally heavy, and…