Toast & Butter & The Meaning of Life
On finding happiness in simplicity, and the power of our full presence ✨
Yesterday morning, my partner asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I said toast with butter. She laughed, said, “What are you, 90?” as I described my favorite breakfast as of late: a cup of coffee and a toasty sourdough slice with real butter. I thought about the comedic simplicity of it all: I could’ve chosen the most indulgent breakfast imaginable and my partner, a chef, would’ve made it happen. Yet all I wanted was toast with butter.
Right now, I am experiencing things my younger self has dreamed of, worked hard for, and energetically manifested. I’m traveling the world and living fully as an artist. I’m a successful business owner who answers to no one. I’m financially independent and creatively abundant. And while I am deeply grateful for these things, I see how they bring only temporary, fleeting happiness, that can tempt one into an exhausting, lifelong chase.
I’m much more interested in my toast with butter. Deep, genuine, and lasting contentment comes in simple moments of full presence: feeling the fresh air caress my skin, deep belly breaths, just being with a loved one. It is in these precious moments where everything makes sense, and everything can be accessed—and when framed in this way, these moments are both plain & simple, and multidimensional & otherworldly.
Your presence is your power. And in a society where our attention is fragmented, bid for & sold, and monopolized by corporations who profit off of it, your full presence is even more precious. It’s the most powerful gift you can give yourself, and gift to others. It has helped me understand the meaning of life—to be fully awake for this human experience, and all of its emotions, challenges, and growth. It’s given me a liberatory understanding where things aren’t “good” or “bad,” but rather, everything just *is*. It’s helped me find home & safety right here, right now—a superpower when living under systems that fail to protect us.
I encourage you to cultivate your presence the way you would train your muscles. Like any other practice, presence can come easily one day, and be elusive the next. Over time & with dedication, you can experience the power of presence more often, and feel its affects more poignantly. And in those moments when you feel it all—your body, your mind, your spirit, your surroundings; and realize that it is all interconnected—notice what you learn. Or rather, remember what your body has known all along.
✨ reflection questions for you ✨
Where do you spend your attention? Which people, projects, situations do you put your energy towards?
Are you content with how you spend your attention? If not, how can you shift?
What are some moments when you feel fully present?
In these moments, how do you feel? What do you know to be true?