The answer to your existential crisis is here.
☯ I am sharing musings and a philosophy. Use what serves you
Listen to a version of this column on the Poetry in Eden podcast, episode #39, available on Spotify or Apple podcasts.
Poetry in Eden is a full-length audiobook on Spotify, Audible; an e-book and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; a podcast with guest interviews on Spotify, Apple; and this bi-weekly newsletter.
The consistent thread in all of my work is my mission to share what I’ve uncovered about the human search for meaning & purpose through philosophy and poetry.
Welcome back. I hope you are vibrating with life.
Last week was our relationship check-in 🫶🫂 Sometimes, that kind of open communication is just what we need. Thank you for showing up, for listening, for being here with your whole heart.
I swear I still love you. This bonus content? Consider it an offering to remind you we’re in this together.
And now, the answer to your existential crisis has arrived. Right on time, really. . .we are, after all, living through deeply existential days.
But don’t worry. We are held and the Earth supports us. We are protected. Well, as long as we protect the one Earth we live on. . .
Shake your magic 8 ball as you ask it a question. Whisper it into the wind as you look within. It is time for some self reflection, and I promise it is worth it.
The answer to your existential crisis lives in your capacity to look outside yourself.
A study published in Nature Communications (2017) found that generous behavior activates the same brain areas as receiving a reward, like money or food — specifically, the ventral striatum. Just planning to help others increased happiness levels in participants.
A meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin (2020) showed people who performed acts of kindness experienced significant increases in well-being, life satisfaction, and mood.
According to research by Allan Luks (1991), over 95% of people who helped others reported feeling better emotionally: described as a "helper’s high", a sense of euphoria followed by calmness, similar to a runner’s high, linked to the release of endorphins.
In University, I was a part of Hillel, an innovative community centre and global Jewish platform. Brown RISD Hillel is building one of the most broadly diverse and highly engaged Jewish campus communities in the United States.
I remember being surprised to learn that similar to Christianity, one of the main commandments of the Torah is to love your neighbour as yourself.
Hillel the Elder said:
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” —Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a
Love your neighbor as yourself is not only a biblical commandment in Judaism but also a cornerstone of Jewish ethical life, calling for empathy, justice, and human dignity in everyday actions.
By helping others we also live out this ancient commandment. So. . .why aren’t we practicing it?
I get the hesitation. I do. Bad luck can be frightening. If someone has it, it’s like they’re contagious.
"I don’t know what I’d do in that situation!” we proclaim. "What can I do?" we inquire.
But without action, these proclamations are empty, vain, and inconsistent.
Are we truly able to look outside our own self-interests? If not, where is it leading us and our society?
Black and white thinking is a metaphor to the concept of “black and white” as polar opposites, and “black and white” as a race construct.
The colour black is the absence of reflected light. In pigment, black absorbs all colors. The colour white is the presence of all colors of light reflected. In pigment, white reflects all.
Furthermore, black is the absence of light. While white is a combination of all wavelengths of visible light.
In Yin-Yang philosophy, black and white represent complementary forces that are interdependent and interconnected, rather than opposites in conflict.
Together, they reflect the natural balance of life — embracing both strength and softness, action and rest, light and dark, without judgment.
Speaking of black and white, I have never in my life seen anyone wear black and white better than German-born, NYC + Berlin-based influencer, Brenda Hashtag. Her ash blonde hair and peachy features create a striking contrast against the only two colours she wears.
But her thinking? It’s far from black and white. Her podcast offers musings and reflections, like a vulnerable, poignant voice message from your best friend.
We are all shaped by the five people we spend the most time with. So, who are your five? What do they say about you? What reflection are you sending out to the world? Maybe it is time to choose again.
Now, on to the racial idea of “black and white.”
This concept was constructed and formalized between the 15th and 18th centuries, fueled by European colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.
In America, between the 17th and 19th centuries, “white” came to symbolize social privilege and legal rights, while “black” was linked to enslavement and exclusion.
These labels — “white” and “black” — are simply invented categories designed to entrench racism rooted in our colonial past. So why do we still cling to them?
In my humble opinion, if one identifies as “white,” they are signaling a lack of clear lineage or heritage. If they do have one, it might be one cut short when late relatives arrived in the United States and chose to erase their origins for assimilation, profit, and survival.
Again, just my take, claiming “white” as an identity often means accepting you are genetically further removed from our original ancestors.
Modern humans, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa (don’t worry, science backs this):
Yes, the scientific consensus is that modern humans —Homo sapiens— originated in Africa. Fossil evidence and genetic studies strongly support the "Out of Africa" theory, indicating that Homo sapiens first evolved in Africa and then migrated to other parts of the world. Source
A lighter complexion, in this light, represents a further genetic deviation from our original people.
The greatest genetic diversity is found among African populations, suggesting a long period of evolution on the continent. Source
So, without these racist constructs born of the slave trade, the entire “black vs. white” racial hierarchy wouldn’t exist.
Wow. Just wow. Many of us are building our entire identities on a fragile, made-up idea.
Personally, if I want real answers to deep, existential questions, I usually seek it from myself or those deeply connected to their lineage and heritage. Ethnicity (e.g. Italian, Jamaican, Irish, Ukrainian, German, etc.) at least ties us to the land from whence we came.
The collective unconscious flowing through the veins of those connected to the land and thus able to directly tap into their ancestral knowledge is potent and powerful.
Luckily, our worth is not a consensus. 👍
I draw spirals in my notebook
Without realising I am a reflection of the stars.
I hear church bells ring without noticing
The metallic vibration in my heart.
I follow the open doors and I manifest portals
And somewhere down the rabbit hole
I metabolise, I embrace, I cherish —
I am mortal.