Today, Remember This

Today, remember this: Modern life (tyrannically!) encourages us to improve every part of ourselves, all at once. I've stopped trying. A short reflection on priorities, self-improvement, and why deciding what can wait is just as important as deciding what matters now.

Today, remember this: We like to think of memory as a recording. Precise, preserved. But neuroscientists increasingly think it's something much stranger: every time we remember the past, we're quietly rebuilding it from scratch. A short reflection on childhood memories, shared history, and why remembering may be less about retrieving the past than carrying it forward.

Today, remember this: If you don't consciously decide what's important to you, the world has a habit of deciding for you. A short reflection on moving from Scotland to Texas, intention, and why the most important values are the ones you've actually chosen—not simply inherited.

Today, remember this: Somewhere along the way, many of us decided that adults should be motivated by discipline alone. I'm no longer convinced that's true. A short reflection on habits, self-encouragement, and why rewarding yourself for doing difficult things isn't cheating—it might just help you keep going.

Today, remember this: Some of the best things in life don't happen all at once. They arrive one ordinary day at a time. A short reflection on my grandfather's wooden porridge spoon (his "spurtle"), everyday rituals, and the quiet marks that repetition leaves on both the objects we love and the people we become.

Today, remember this: I used to think that if I solved a problem well enough, I'd never have to think about it again. But of course, many of the best parts of life don't work like that. A short reflection on health, relationships, and why maintenance isn't what happens after success—it often is success.

Today, remember this: Certainty feels satisfying. But it also has a habit of arriving long before we actually know what's going on. A short reflection on parenting, asking "why?", and why curiosity often helps us understand both other people—and ourselves—a little bit better.

Today, remember this: Some languages don't say, "I am anxious." They say something much closer to, "Anxiety is on me." It's a small grammatical difference, but I find it points toward a surprisingly gentle way of relating to difficult emotions—not as permanent parts of our identity, but as experiences we're having. A short reflection on Scottish Gaelic/Gàidhlig*, co...

Today, remember this: Gratitude asks us to notice the ways other people have made our lives better. But there's another question that can be just as powerful: how did I make someone else's day just a bit better? A short reflection on gratitude practices, Adam Grant's idea of a contribution journal, and why paying attention to what we give can be just as meaningful as paying attention t...

Today, remember this: One day, today's ordinary moments will quietly become part of your history. The conversations. The routines. The worries. The small details that seem too ordinary to be worth remembering. A short reflection on COVID journals, letters to my future self, and why it might be worth leaving a few breadcrumbs for the person you'll become.

Today, remember this: Most people aren't spending nearly as much time thinking about you as you suspect. Not because they don't care—but because they're busy carrying around lives every bit as rich, complicated, and distracting as your own. A short reflection on embarrassing moments, and why everyone else is usually far too busy being themselves to dwell on yours.

Today, remember this: We spend a lot of time talking about the ways technology pulls us apart. But it can also bring us together—if we make it. A short reflection on voice notes, long-distance friendships, and why the moment someone crosses your mind is the perfect moment to reach out.

Today, remember this: Your brain is remarkably good at filtering out the things that stay the same. That's incredibly useful when it comes to the feeling of your socks against your feet or the hum of the air conditioner. It's a little more unfortunate when it comes to the people you love, your health, or the everyday comforts that make up your life. A short reflection on how we're wire...

Today, remember this: If you live long enough, eventually you'll draw a difficult card, a tough hand, from the deck of what life can throw at you. That's not pessimism: it's part of being human. The question isn't how to avoid every hardship. It's how to keep living fully, knowing certainty was never on offer in the first place. A short reflection on probability, resilience, an...

Today, remember this: Perfection has a funny way of talking us out of doing things. The perfect workout. The perfect investment. The perfect first draft. The perfectly optimized diet. Meanwhile, the imperfect version that actually happens keeps quietly moving life forward. A short reflection on perfectionism, inaction, and why an ordinary result in the real world is often better than a masterpiece...

Today, remember this: Life is eventually going to ask you to do difficult things. There is sometimes value in choosing to go first. A short reflection on challenges, discomfort, and why choosing hard things can feel surprisingly empowering.

Today, remember this: It's surprisingly easy to mistake a temporary feeling for a permanent fact about yourself. A bad day can make you think, "I'm a mess." A moment of fear turns into, "I'm an anxious person." A setback can evidence about who we are. But while states aren't traits, traits often begin as states repeated over time. A short reflection on identity,...

Today, remember this: Sometimes the things we care about the most get worse when we try too hard to improve them. A vacation becomes an itinerary. Rest becomes a performance metric. Relaxation becomes another item on the to-do list. A short reflection on optimization, sleep tracking, family vacations, and the surprisingly high cost of squeezing every last drop of efficiency out of life.

Today, remember this: A surprising amount of what happens inside your mind seems to happen entirely without your permission. Thoughts appear. Urges arise. Old memories resurface. Songs get stuck in your head. But perhaps the most important part of the process of living your life isn't what pops up, what gets submitted for your consideration. It's what gets published. A short reflection on...

Today, remember this: Many of the things we love to do eventually start feeling like things we're *supposed* to do. A hobby becomes a responsibility. A creative outlet becomes a commitment. Something that once felt exciting slowly starts feeling like...work. A short reflection on novelty, obligation, sourdough starters, and the curious tendency for our get-tos to become have-tos.

Today, remember this: Many of us spend our lives chasing the feeling of finally being "on top of things"—as though there's a future version of life where the inbox is empty, the laundry is done, and everything is under control. But most of what matters isn't something to finish. It's something to maintain. A short reflection on recurring tasks, parental leave, laundry, and wh...

Today, remember this: Not every uncomfortable feeling is a sign that something has gone wrong. Sometimes discomfort is warning us about genuine danger. Other times, it's pointing towards uncertainty, vulnerability,, or simply something we'd rather avoid. A short reflection on anxiety, discomfort, and learning to listen to our feelings without automatically letting them make our decisions.

Today, remember this: Most of us think we're simply observing the cold hard facts of what's happening around us. But between an event and our experience of it, there's often something else: the unspoken story we tell ourselves about what it means. A short reflection on interpretation, assumptions, and how changing the meaning we attach to a situation can change the experience of it ent...

Today, remember this: When we think about kindness, we tend to picture actions: favors, gifts, grand gestures, and good deeds. But some of the kindnesses that stay with us the longest are much quieter than that. A patient response. Genuine attention. Someone choosing to make us feel welcome when we need it most. A short reflection on kindness, human connection, and the ripple effects we rarely get...

Today, remember this: Not every question you ask yourself needs an answer right now. Sometimes, we mistake rumination for problem-solving, convincing ourselves that one more pass through a worry, uncertainty, or conversation will finally bring clarity. More often than not, it just brings another lap around the same track. A short reflection on uncertainty, overthinking, and the freedom of leaving...