The System Wasn’t Built for This
Lately, I’ve been feeling the quiet pressure of a truth I’ve known for a while: the system we live in wasn’t built for people like me. Or maybe people period. Those of us who want to create, reflect, make meaning of the short time we spend in this life.
Every day seems to demand energy for logistical maintenance. Paperwork, emails, taxes, invoices, insurance, endless apps and passwords. Life starts to feel like a full-time administrative job with flashes of purpose squeezed in around the edges.
It’s not that these things are pointless, they’re the scaffolding that keeps our lives standing. But they’ve grown so heavy that they block the view. The system rewards compliance and efficiency, not reflection or creativity.
The irony is, the more productive you become, the less room you have to think. And without thinking, it’s easy to forget what you’re even working toward.
So I’m trying to carve out small sanctuaries of slowness: time to write, photograph, walk, breathe. Spaces where meaning isn’t something I have to justify with ROI.
Maybe the system won’t change anytime soon. But I can change how I navigate it. A little less optimizing, a little more living.