Hi friends,
And happy holiday season, officially. The trees in our neighborhood are going bonkers with color. And they say the Bay Area has no seasons!
Our seasons are fog, fire, and sweater.
Taking regular walks lately has been a potent antidote to despair—it’s hard to hate your life when nature is giving you regular strip tease/fireworks shows.
For this month’s VIP newsletter, I decided to include an as-yet-unpublished advice column about midlife malaise—though the advice can apply to anyone who wants to up their happiness and contentment.
Since the holidays tend to come with a lot of extra stressors and expectations, both internal and external, I figured it’s a good time for some reminders and techniques to counter the blues.
Questioning the point of life and the sources of lasting happiness are very human pursuits, though such questions often become more profound as we reach the midpoint of our lives—aka peak existential crisis time.
In this week’s Ask Anna column, a successful 46-year-old man who, despite achieving societal success—a beautiful home, a loving spouse, financial stability—finds himself grappling with feelings of discontentment.
He asked, "Is there more to happiness and fulfillment than this seemingly perfect life I've built?"
If you've ever felt this way, here's some food for thought.
Dear Anna,
As an accomplished, 46-year-old man, I've seemingly achieved the dream of many. I have a beautiful house, a loving wife who has been a rock for many years, and plenty of money—so why am I not happy? I grapple almost daily with feelings of restlessness, a gnawing emptiness that I can't seem to shake off, and a hollow discontentment that lurks around even in the happiest of moments. Is there more to happiness and fulfillment than this seemingly perfect life I've built? Are there pieces of the puzzle I'm missing? I would be truly grateful for any guidance on discovering what seems to be eluding me.—Searching for Happiness
Dear SFH,
Congratulations! You’ve discovered that material possessions and societal expectations don't guarantee happiness. This is huge. Many people don’t ever get to this point of questioning, let alone doing anything to change it.