#contentment

#contentment

It's Saturday afternoon and you finally have a moment to breathe. You've ticked things off your to-do list, the house is mostly in order, and you should feel good - maybe even happy. But instead, there's a faint tug of "not enough": Not productive enough. Not healthy enough. Not successful enough. Not happy enough. This is the happiness paradox: The more we chase happiness, the more it slips away.

Emotions are not just fleeting reactions; they are essential guides for human connection and survival. Whether through the quiet ache of grief or the unexpected flood of tears in moments of joy, our emotional expressions reveal what matters most. Crying, in particular, speaks to this paradox: It can soothe inner tension, signal a need for support, or mark the overwhelming beauty of love and meaning. In this way, both sorrow and joy become invitations, reminders that feeling deeply is not a weakness,

It is 2008, and I am sitting in my grandmother's room, at the Salt Lick Safari Lodge within the Taita Hills Wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. It is a gorgeous place to stay, the villas appear almost rocket-shaped, standing high off the ground to prevent any wildlife from getting inside the rooms. All around there is lush greenery. Outside her window, many animals, including elephants, deer, and giraffes pass by.