Bird poop & happiness

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I’m very excited about today’s newsletter, which is in collaboration with Sam Panitch and Parker Yablon of Elevation Nation.

Sam and Parker interviewed me for their podcast (linked below in the usual spot) that conveniently came out today. We talked about a lot of things that I’ve written about here, but I specifically wanted to pull out the piece of our conversation on contentment.

To give credit where credit is due: I went out with this guy in Chicago for a couple months last year, and he shared that his goal in life is not to find happiness, but contentment. I love that philosophy.

I talked about it with Sam and Parker on the pod this way: happiness is fleeting, and it’s a feeling. It’s not a sustainable goal toward which we should build our lives. I can be outside and feel happy because a beautiful bird flies above my head. Then if the bird sh*ts on me, that “happy” feeling goes away (bc, gross). But let’s say one of my values is being outside or enjoying nature. I can find contentment in simply being there, regardless of the short-lived circumstances because I’m living in my values.

That’s a metaphor, obviously. But it’s applicable to our lives this way: Dr. A (you’ll remember this is my therapist, who is brilliant) has been reminding me of the value of living in the moment. After I defined my values (service, kindness, humor, etc.), I try to live within them in my moments throughout the day as a practical way to seek contentment.

Now, Sam and Parker’s mission with Elevation Nation is to help young adults basically do that. When they graduated from college, Sam tells me that everyone seemed to be lacking fulfillment, a sense of direction and purpose.

So they built up a community of people who have either figured out young adulthood or are currently in the process of figuring out. Their “elevators,” as they call them, run the gamut from Olympians to Tiktokers to podcasters to entrepreneurs and everything in between. They’re all figuring out the best way to feel fulfilled in their lives. Everyone has an episode on the podcast, which I highly recommend you check out!

(P.S. In case it’s of interest, Sam & Parker also host in-person events and speak to high school & college students, along with corporations.)

What do you think about finding contentment over happiness? Let me know. You can find me on IG or just reply to this email. Or if you have any questions, send those, too. Getting your emails is still my favorite part of the week, so please keep them coming 🙂