Most people think religion means gods, scriptures, temples, and rituals. But those are forms, not the substance. The substance is simpler and more revealing.

I wonder why talented and diligent people are so often unfairly rewarded — sometimes even sliding into financial insecurity — while ignorant, corrupt individuals, along with heirs to wealth, enjoy lavish lives and prosper as a rule?

My country does not oblige legally registered couples to assume a single name for all members. Wives are allowed to keep theirs or create a double-barreled family name. Husbands have the same legal right, though no one usually asks what they truly desire. Other countries, even democratic ones, drastically limit the choice.

If humanity were capable of a moment of collective clarity, we would be silenced by the sheer weight of our own fortune. Instead, we are ungrateful. We are stupid. And it is this stupidity that allows us to take our existence for granted.

For me, a perfectly ordered apartment feels like a museum — beautiful, but not a place to actually “live”. When the apartment is messy, I have purpose.