how wealthy am i really?

the obvious answer is, "it depends how one measures wealth." it just so happens that in this instance the obvious answer also seems to be the right one. i've been struggling with the meaning of "wealth" and questioning the true usefulness of a life shaped by pursuit of it. i get stuck because the pursuit of "it," in ways, gives me purpose. but, the actual accrual of "it," beyond it's functional utility, doesn't return me much pleasure - or at the very best, offers me steeply diminishing returns under the best circumstances.

so...where does that leave me? today, i'm playing with redefining the assumed "it" for myself. my prior working definition was hard to pin down. it was some misty combination of financial security, emotional well-being, spiritual fulfillment, etc. not impractical, but nearly impossible to measure in any empirical fashion. going forward, i plan to measure my wealth in terms of the absolute number of trusting and caring relationships in my life. i see this metric as a potentially leading indicator for each of the more general categories I referenced previously.

of course, there's the challenge of accurately and empirically measuring mutual trust and care in any relationship. that's a puzzle i'll savor over the weekend. in most things, i feel a refreshing sense of clarity getting to focus on a single key performance indicator. it creates the conditions to allow me to think exclusively about what is MOST important, and optimize relentlessly on that vector. probably too robotic and inflexible an approach for something so fluid, irrational, emotional and naturally powerful as human relationships. but, it's a worth an experiment. more to come...

term of the day: humility. one of the best leading indicators of future greatness, in my opinion. working on this, and failing up each day.

song of the day: The Bird by Anderson Paak. all white art gallery setting, bare walls, sky lights, light lavender scents, and this song. peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXdW0g6jAxE