I love this and this whole topic has been on my mind the past couple of years... how to live a life where I don't need much. I'm trying to do things more deliberately, from brushing my teeth to making coffee, to reading essays here to listening to music without doing a million other things... anyway, I'm trying...
Another film recco: Perfect Days (2023) I think it's on Netflix. It's about a man who cleans toilets in Tokyo... but it's also very much not about a man who cleans toilets.
i was just about to comment that perfect days was a perfect addition to the film section of this piece! i love that the film shows both the beauty in life's cycle of joys and hardships.
You made me think of the poems of Mary Oliver - it's wonderful to find golden moments in the fabric of everyday life. But I find that I need someone to remind me to look - and your piece did just that.
I loved this...probably the most beautiful and stirring words I've read from you...because this is me.I was adopted by older people whose parents were immigrants;this is how I was raised and how I still roll.When I come home from work,shedding shoes,bags,etc.,I grab some hot coffee and my cats are immediately all over me...this every day,my books,beloved little things I display and like to look at,never fails to make me feel better.I walk everywhere...just seeing small things others overlook and the coolness of still being alive is just the best thing!Thank you for your words,stories of your aunt and uncle,and appreciation of the simple things...
wow, i love this so much. there's so much beauty in the mundane and i think it requires us to be introspective and aware of the significance in life's simplicities.
I really related to this piece! There is nothing wrong with wanting a simple and 'quiet' life. I think that it comes down to what you value and how you view what this life means for you. We've been tricked into thinking that we should be bright and flashy with our lives for others without taking a step back and wondering if that is what we really want.
Thank you for this. I have always valued a slower and more meaningful life, but continuously get pulled back to doing more, wanting a job with an impressive title (just in case anyone asks in small talk), and having this feeling that if I don't record and showcase my life, it doesn't matter. Even when I AM living a slower and meaningful life, there's something in my brain that needs everyone to know this about me and that I'm better than them for doing so. The internet has seriously messed up my brain lol. So lately I've been working on doing things just for the sake of doing them - and not for any other reason.
Thank you for the great essay. Can I ask respectfully, why do you not capitalize the beginning of your sentences? It makes reading a great essay quite painful.
I also really enjoyed the essay, but dislike the odd insistence on not using capital letters! Writing and punctuation conventions exist to help readers. Ignoring some of them like this is an odd choice.
thank you for writing this. right now, this is my favorite thing you’ve ever written. you captured something i’ve been thinking about but couldn’t put into words..the beauty in living a smaller & more intentional life. it feels like permission to slow down and appreciate the little things, which is something i really needed to hear. this piece will forever be special to me.. don’t ever delete.
Thank you, thank you for this, Caitlyn. I feel like finding the path to pursuing less is on ever-rotation in my mind. When I reflect on who I was a decade ago – fresh-faced and in my 20s, clamoring after the corner office – it's disorienting to realize that I don't know who that is anymore. But also incredibly refreshing. There is so much depth, magic and joy in the 'mundane.'
Yes!! I think about this all the time - it's like a quiet reminder whenever I feel that comparison seeping in. What makes me happiest? The smaller moments always.
it's always the smaller moments. anytime i've ever spoken to an elderly person, the small, simple, mundane moments of their lives always hold the most meaning. more often than not, they wish they had more of those moments to experience.
I had to watch jeanne dielman for my film course this semester and most of my class really hated it. I loved the mundanity of that film, it made me feel so happy to live
People keep asking me if I’m depressed because I like going to bed early and getting up early. No, I’m not depressed—I just found my routine and I like it. It’s simple, it works, and I don’t need more. Not everything has to be about hustle or staying up late pretending I’m interested in talking to people I don’t know.
One season while I was working on our commercial salmon fishing boat, the boat name Sysyfish occurred to me, along with the idea that maybe Sysyphus was really in heaven. He gets the constant occupation of pushing the rock up the hill, which sounds like a soothing sensory activity. Then there is the thrill of watching it roll back down. Who doesn't love pushing big rocks down hills? In my winter jobs as a special ed aide and an after school outdoor mentor, we call this kind of activity an important part of the "sensory diet."
Long story short I love this post and have been falling more and more into the quiet life myself. I feel some guilt about it now and then. I wonder if I shouldn't be so content to be uninvolved in solving the world's biggest problems, and I wonder if I'm failing to fulfill my potential and just letting my life pass me by.
But when I walk to the beach for my lunch break and sit and absorb the world without any intentions, that renews my sense of connection to bigger things. More than any news ever has. And when I get to experience the changing of the seasons alongside kids, that reminds me that getting lost in ambition forces us to let a lot of other parts of life pass us by.
I told my therapist last week that I think I feel guilty about being happy. She was so excited and called it a “door knock moment”. I dryly replied ‘ I’d rather not have anyone at my door.’ She laughed.
P.S. “Sysyfish” is brilliant. I want to paint her now!
It's good to hear your therapist was happy about you being happy, haha. And that it's not something to feel guilty for, or some sign that we are disconnected from reality if we are happy.
I love this and this whole topic has been on my mind the past couple of years... how to live a life where I don't need much. I'm trying to do things more deliberately, from brushing my teeth to making coffee, to reading essays here to listening to music without doing a million other things... anyway, I'm trying...
Another film recco: Perfect Days (2023) I think it's on Netflix. It's about a man who cleans toilets in Tokyo... but it's also very much not about a man who cleans toilets.
i was just about to comment that perfect days was a perfect addition to the film section of this piece! i love that the film shows both the beauty in life's cycle of joys and hardships.
great recommendations thank you!
Yes, Perfect Days, I was going to add that! 🧡
I immediately thought of that film too 🥰
Perfect Days definitely belongs on the film list
You made me think of the poems of Mary Oliver - it's wonderful to find golden moments in the fabric of everyday life. But I find that I need someone to remind me to look - and your piece did just that.
that is such a good one <3
I loved this...probably the most beautiful and stirring words I've read from you...because this is me.I was adopted by older people whose parents were immigrants;this is how I was raised and how I still roll.When I come home from work,shedding shoes,bags,etc.,I grab some hot coffee and my cats are immediately all over me...this every day,my books,beloved little things I display and like to look at,never fails to make me feel better.I walk everywhere...just seeing small things others overlook and the coolness of still being alive is just the best thing!Thank you for your words,stories of your aunt and uncle,and appreciation of the simple things...
wow, i love this so much. there's so much beauty in the mundane and i think it requires us to be introspective and aware of the significance in life's simplicities.
I really related to this piece! There is nothing wrong with wanting a simple and 'quiet' life. I think that it comes down to what you value and how you view what this life means for you. We've been tricked into thinking that we should be bright and flashy with our lives for others without taking a step back and wondering if that is what we really want.
yes, agreed!
Thank you for this. I have always valued a slower and more meaningful life, but continuously get pulled back to doing more, wanting a job with an impressive title (just in case anyone asks in small talk), and having this feeling that if I don't record and showcase my life, it doesn't matter. Even when I AM living a slower and meaningful life, there's something in my brain that needs everyone to know this about me and that I'm better than them for doing so. The internet has seriously messed up my brain lol. So lately I've been working on doing things just for the sake of doing them - and not for any other reason.
small talk is out for 2025
Thank god
Yes, that resonates with me...'just in case anyone asks in small talk' 😕🙄😟
Thank you for the great essay. Can I ask respectfully, why do you not capitalize the beginning of your sentences? It makes reading a great essay quite painful.
I also really enjoyed the essay, but dislike the odd insistence on not using capital letters! Writing and punctuation conventions exist to help readers. Ignoring some of them like this is an odd choice.
thank you for writing this. right now, this is my favorite thing you’ve ever written. you captured something i’ve been thinking about but couldn’t put into words..the beauty in living a smaller & more intentional life. it feels like permission to slow down and appreciate the little things, which is something i really needed to hear. this piece will forever be special to me.. don’t ever delete.
awe, thank you for your kind words. you don't ever need permission to slow down, recalibrate, etc. this little life is also very short.
Thank you, thank you for this, Caitlyn. I feel like finding the path to pursuing less is on ever-rotation in my mind. When I reflect on who I was a decade ago – fresh-faced and in my 20s, clamoring after the corner office – it's disorienting to realize that I don't know who that is anymore. But also incredibly refreshing. There is so much depth, magic and joy in the 'mundane.'
that damn corner office will be the death of corporate girlies.
Yes!! I think about this all the time - it's like a quiet reminder whenever I feel that comparison seeping in. What makes me happiest? The smaller moments always.
it's always the smaller moments. anytime i've ever spoken to an elderly person, the small, simple, mundane moments of their lives always hold the most meaning. more often than not, they wish they had more of those moments to experience.
Stunning
your username <3
Worst Person in the World is an incredible film, made me think a lot
i need to watch that!
Thank you so much for writing this, it was a beautiful reminder for all I want to create next year 🫶🏼
<33
I had to watch jeanne dielman for my film course this semester and most of my class really hated it. I loved the mundanity of that film, it made me feel so happy to live
oh, i love it so much.
People keep asking me if I’m depressed because I like going to bed early and getting up early. No, I’m not depressed—I just found my routine and I like it. It’s simple, it works, and I don’t need more. Not everything has to be about hustle or staying up late pretending I’m interested in talking to people I don’t know.
Great post!
One season while I was working on our commercial salmon fishing boat, the boat name Sysyfish occurred to me, along with the idea that maybe Sysyphus was really in heaven. He gets the constant occupation of pushing the rock up the hill, which sounds like a soothing sensory activity. Then there is the thrill of watching it roll back down. Who doesn't love pushing big rocks down hills? In my winter jobs as a special ed aide and an after school outdoor mentor, we call this kind of activity an important part of the "sensory diet."
Long story short I love this post and have been falling more and more into the quiet life myself. I feel some guilt about it now and then. I wonder if I shouldn't be so content to be uninvolved in solving the world's biggest problems, and I wonder if I'm failing to fulfill my potential and just letting my life pass me by.
But when I walk to the beach for my lunch break and sit and absorb the world without any intentions, that renews my sense of connection to bigger things. More than any news ever has. And when I get to experience the changing of the seasons alongside kids, that reminds me that getting lost in ambition forces us to let a lot of other parts of life pass us by.
Yes about the guilt!
I told my therapist last week that I think I feel guilty about being happy. She was so excited and called it a “door knock moment”. I dryly replied ‘ I’d rather not have anyone at my door.’ She laughed.
P.S. “Sysyfish” is brilliant. I want to paint her now!
It's good to hear your therapist was happy about you being happy, haha. And that it's not something to feel guilty for, or some sign that we are disconnected from reality if we are happy.
Wow! Thank you for this. Been thinking about this myself.
🤎🤎