Aarini G.

Photography by Jerry Stamatelatos

If you’re reading this, ask yourself if you are happy.

Make like Marie Kondo and find things that “spark joy,” even if that joy lasts only a minute.

Too often, you’ll get into some sort of “anti-rut,” so to speak. You’re doing your work on time, you don’t feel like you’re struggling to be productive, and you’re seeing good people on a daily basis. You’re even somehow on a decent sleep schedule, and you eat breakfast every morning. On paper, everything looks fine – even ideal.

But something still feels off.

It’s that nothing makes you happy. But you’re not unhappy. You’re just not fully there. You’re content with the way your life is going – at least you think you are.

But something is missing. Your life has settled into its usual Sisyphean rhythm without you realizing it, and you suddenly find yourself rolling that boulder up the hill like a robot, destined to live within the terrible boredom of monotony for the rest of your life. In short, you don’t feel like you’re truly alive.

So what do you do?

You sit down with yourself, and you change the routine. Examine your habits, both ones you’ve picked up and ones you’ve abandoned. Examine your surroundings, your clothes, your diet, anything. Mentally turn it over, channel Marie Kondo, and ask yourself: Does this spark joy?

If it does, keep it. Or, if you discarded it in the past, fish it out of the trash and reintegrate it into your life.

If it doesn’t, toss it. It’s not required for you to maintain. It’s no longer valuable to you, and it’s probably not going to benefit you if it stays.

You are allowed to make your own rules for living. There’s no sense in creating or keeping the ones that hurt you. Embrace the ones that spark joy – they’re what make you feel truly alive.

Aarini G., New York University

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