sunday life: in which i check in with my inside people…and Eugene Tan

This week I check in with my “inside people”

a happy shot by Uge
a happy shot by Uge

You can spend a lifetime reading books about how to get happy in 11 easy steps while not sweating small stuff. There are a lot out there, generally written by some of the most tortured souls around (in the same way neurotics often become psychiatrists and awkward nerds generally become models).

But I find the most powerful life-bettering lessons emerge from everyday people you meet in the street. Randoms, in the act of happiness.

On Monday I ran into Eugene, a surfer I’ve known from around my neighbourhood for a while, sitting in the sun having a coffee. I asked what he was doing because he wasn’t reading the paper or talking into a phone. He was just sitting. “Sez, I’m checking in with my inside people,” he said everyday-ishly, like he was posting a letter.

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