Corinda Lubin-Katz

If I’m unfazed by what other people think, then what’s to stop me from not only not caring what others say about me, but what I say about others?

Subway pole leaners.

You think these humans have the capacity to contain every feeling they encounter over a lifetime? No way. They would combust.

Truly, the worst disappointment is to fear disappointment so much, we abandon hope and passion.

The ups are followed by downs and vice versa, everything seems fickle. We make progress, we seem subconsciously linked with a perpetual inspiration, and then, before we know it, we find ourselves once again uninspired.

We’re a convenient generation, and so we’ve forgotten the simple satisfaction that can come with making an effort.

A young man serenades the train; he sings Frank Sinatra’s “Love” and he’s not very good. But he has a positive energy. It makes me wonder if I pause enough to appreciate all the bravery in the world.

I cannot stress enough the magnificence of trusting yourself in feeling and in outcome.

There is this inclination toward ignoring privilege as if pretending it’s not there is somehow equalizing, when in reality, it has the opposite effect. Inequality, prejudice, institutionalized oppression, and injustices are far too deeply ingrained to be wiped away by imagination.

It dawned on me one day as I sank into a particularly sad mood—the type that has an ache to it like its own heartbeat—that we are not meant to be hollow. So, I chose to view as essential the grief, sadness, and longing that rush in like caged water escaping through cracks in crumbling walls.

You never know when you’ll have to rely on the kindness of strangers, or when you will be a stranger whose kindness is needed. I don’t know that karma works as efficiently and effectively as we might all like to believe, but I do think the more kindness is put out into the world, the better.

Do not rule out the possibility that your life’s intention is simply to be happy.