My Body Is Having a Moment (And I Don’t Know If It’s Perimenopause or Just... Vibes)
A dispatch from the summer my skin decided to unionize
Dose of Wonder
You made it. Good. This is a space for people tired of performing fine. Essays on grief, wonder, and slow living — no hacks, no gurus, just honest company. Paid Villagers get the deeper layer. Come as you are.
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Latest episodes
[REPOST] Welcome to the Dose of Wonder Village
A village built not of bricks, but of stories, sparks, and you
The Art of the Anchor: Provisions for the Hurried & the Tetherless
Every hearth has a keeper. The key explains why here . Most days, it feels like we’re being swept along by a current we didn’t choose. Daily anchors are small, tangible tethers. Like simple rituals or deliberate resets that prevent us from being swept away by modern digital currents. These practices shift our attention from task-completion to a sacred pause, reminding us that we have a body and a…
The Trap of “Optimization”
Trading the efficiency trap for the courage of an "Inefficient Afternoon"
Your Brain Is Rigged for Friction (And How to Train It Otherwise)
Every hearth has a keeper. The key explains why here . We are evolutionarily rigged to find the fault lines. We carry an ancient alarm system—the amygdala—an emotional fear centre designed to scan for predators. The problem is that it hasn’t been updated for the modern world. It doesn’t know the difference between a threat to your life and a sharp comment from a stranger. It treats both like a…
One Minute of Wonder: Bare Feet on the Earth Mindfulness Practice
Nature based mini mindful moments
You’re Not Behind. You’re Just on Chapter 7.
Stop comparing your story to others
Pull Up A Chair: The New Emberlight Space Is Open.
The fire stays, the room is new
The “Aesthetic” Grave
Every hearth has a keeper. The key explains why here . Have you noticed? It seems like we’re beige-ing the world to death. From the “sad beige toys” trend of a few years ago (see: minimalist wooden shapes and muted plastic) to coffee shops that are all brilliant white with a few artfully placed chairs that feel like a Nordic showroom, we’ve traded personality for a “clutter-free” serenity that is,…
Emberlight - July 2026
Tired for no reason
I Built an AI Wisdom Tool (It's Stoic, Buddhist, and Surprisingly Honest)
I built a thing. It involves Stoics and Buddhists and an AI. Bear with me. Do you ever go through something hard and find yourself doing that thing where you read the same three wellness quotes on repeat, hoping one of them will finally stick? Not because you believe in quotes exactly, but because you’re holding something heavy and you’d really like someone who has already figured out existence to…
Podcast 88: How Checking Off Your To-Do List Can Help You Feel On Top Of the World
We’re often told to focus on the big wins and the looming deadlines, but I’ve found that the real shift happens in the corners of my to-do list. In this episode, I’m talking about why clearing a few emails or finally folding the laundry feels less like a chore and more like an act of rescue. For anyone navigating a heavy season (where even the smallest task feels like a mountain), we’re exploring…
The Tactile Anchor Mindfulness Practice
Holding the iron key
Nobody Told Us There’d Be No Off Switch
I want to talk about something that’s been making me genuinely, properly ragey lately. (And before I do — I want to be clear that I’m going to say some spicy things about the productivity and AI space, and I’m aware that I use AI tools in my own creative process and write about it openly. I’m not a hypocrite, or at least I’m trying not to be. I’m someone who is in this thing and also deeply…
Podcast 87: Would You Help In An Emergency?
Have you ever seen someone in trouble and felt a strange, heavy hesitation to step in? You aren’t a “bad person”—you’re likely caught in a psychological short-circuit known as the Bystander Effect . In this episode, I’m building on my recent studies in Social Psychology to unpack why crowds actually make us less likely to help. From the tragic story of Kitty Genovese to a personal encounter with a…
The Mindsight of Passing Tail-Lights Mindfulness Practice
Every hearth has a keeper. The key explains why here . A few years ago I learned a fabulous word, that was made up fairly recently by the person who thought it up, and which I mention in this other piece of mine about words in other languages. It’s Sonder , which is this specific wonder in realizing and recognizing that every person you see is the protagonist of a story as complex as your own –…
Wonder Wrap Up: June 2026
Held, Not Hacked
I've Lost More People Than I Know What To Do With (So I Built Something)
There's an…indescribable feeling that comes with being a person who has lost a lot of people (and animals). Like you become aware at some point, your realize your grief list is getting long enough that it starts to sound like a bit much. Like you're making it up, or competing, or asking for something. And so you learn to mention it carefully, or not at all, or with a kind of pre-emptive apology in…
Podcast 86: The Courage To Act Despite Fear
A while ago I attended (if you can call it that) an online wellbeing summit where a speaker shared a mantra that has been rattling around in my head ever since: the art of acting despite the fear. We often wait for the “right” time to make a move—waiting for the anxiety to fade or the nervousness to settle into something that feels like confidence. But what if that’s a trap? In this episode, I’m…
The “Optimized” Life is a Small Life
The iron key in the image is a tool, not a decoration. Learn about the boundaries it guards here . There’s one word that, in the last few months, or I guess that I’ve really noticed since the beginning of the year, or at least it’s when it really jumped into my consciousness and started grating on me (besides ‘quiet/quietly’), and that is optimize (or optimization). It seems like everyone is…