Raptitude.com
How to Outlive Your Bucket List
When you’re young, making a bucket list – things you want to do before you die — feels like you’re...
a week ago
When you’re young, making a bucket list – things you want to do before you die — feels like you’re choosing prizes that will arrive in the mail later. I’ll take fluency in Italian, please, a 300-lb bench press, and a swim in the Nile. I’ll definitely want to drive a Ferrari on...
Raptitude.com
How to Look the Sky in the Face
Last week I had a friend for dinner, and she convinced me to do one of her favorite activities...
13th Aug 2026
Last week I had a friend for dinner, and she convinced me to do one of her favorite activities afterward: lie on the grass in the park and look at the sky. I was hesitant because I don’t like to lie down until nighttime, when the only goal is to end the day by losing...
Raptitude.com
Failing is Common, Trying is Rare
When you die, you appear before a studio audience and they give you a standing ovation. The host...
15th Jul 2026
When you die, you appear before a studio audience and they give you a standing ovation. The host then interviews you about your great successes and misses in life. One thing you realize, when they review the footage, is that you didn’t really try most of the time. You thought you...
Raptitude.com
Do Things You’ll Love Yourself For
The night before you travel somewhere, order your favorite pizza, eat some of it for dinner, and...
2nd Jun 2026
The night before you travel somewhere, order your favorite pizza, eat some of it for dinner, and seal the rest in a bag and put it in the freezer. A week later, when you get home unexpectedly late, wiped out and ravenous, you’ll open your fridge to find only eggs, pickles, and...
Raptitude.com
How to Just Do a Thing
I keep reading books from the 19th century and earlier, fiction and nonfiction, because I envy...
14th May 2026
I keep reading books from the 19th century and earlier, fiction and nonfiction, because I envy something about the lives of the people in them. I don’t think I’d want to trade places. I’m too accustomed to hot showers and modern dentistry. But people back then seemed to live with...
Raptitude.com
Social Media is the Opposite of Social Life
I remember a surreal moment about twenty years ago, which felt like the beginning of something bad,...
10th Apr 2026
I remember a surreal moment about twenty years ago, which felt like the beginning of something bad, and it was. I was at a bowling alley with some friends, and a few people in our group were talking about Facebook. I knew what it was but had no interest in it. Then one of them...
Raptitude.com
In Favor of Enjoying Things on Purpose
The human being is an enjoyment-seeking creature. There’s a reason people are always trying to...
17th Mar 2026
The human being is an enjoyment-seeking creature. There’s a reason people are always trying to restrain themselves from excessive eating, drinking, scrolling, and shopping. It’s perfectly normal to pursue these and other pleasures even to the point of serious problems and early...
Raptitude.com
Why You’re Always Right
My cat refuses all medicine because she doesn’t understand the benefits. Nothing can make her see...
9th Feb 2026
My cat refuses all medicine because she doesn’t understand the benefits. Nothing can make her see that having bitter liquid squirted into her mouth will prevent her from getting intestinal worms. So I have to force the matter by wrapping her in a towel like a burrito, so that she...
Raptitude.com
Someone Has to Fly the Plane
When I want a thrill, I walk to the corner store without my phone. Leaving the house like that, with...
12th Jan 2026
When I want a thrill, I walk to the corner store without my phone. Leaving the house like that, with only wallet and keys, feels physically strange and wrong, like I forgot to wear underwear. Even though I didn’t have a mobile phone for the first half of my life, ten minutes...
Raptitude.com
Maybe the Default Settings Are Too High
I’ve been reading Lord of the Rings for two months and I’m just at the end of the first part. It’s...
24th Dec 2025
I’ve been reading Lord of the Rings for two months and I’m just at the end of the first part. It’s not because I’m not enjoying it. It’s one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I can remember. From the beginning, I’ve read the whole thing aloud. I’ve found reading aloud...
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