Simple Life
A while back I wrote about standing on the edge of a canyon in Wyoming with my kids, and what that moment made me realize about what I want for their lives – Read The Trip here.
I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
I think about what I want for my life. I also continue to think about what I want for my children.
Not wealth. Not fame. Not power.
Just a good, fulfilling life — one with purpose and meaning. And I’m not talking about meaning in some grand, cosmic sense. I mean it in the most basic, human way possible.
You get up in the morning and go to a place you enjoy being while you earn a living. You talk with the people around you, and most days, you have a good time doing it. You come home, cook dinner, and hang out with the people you love. You toss a ball around in the backyard with your son or daughter. You pay your bills on time — every time — because the money is there and it isn’t a crisis. As the evening winds down, you relax in your home, take a warm shower, and settle into your comfortable bed. Maybe you read a book or put on some music before drifting off to sleep.
That’s it. That’s the dream.
The Weight We Carry
The truth is, most people aren’t asking for a mansion or an expensive sports car. They’re asking for something far simpler, a life free from the grinding, relentless weight of financial worry.
How am I going to cover the mortgage this month? What about groceries? Can I even get to work if gas hits $4.50 a gallon again? Will I be able to buy my kids new clothes when they grow out of the ones they have?
These aren’t abstract policy questions. They’re the thoughts running through the heads of millions of people every single day — while they’re trying to sleep, while they’re at work, while they’re sitting across the dinner table from their families.
I’m not suggesting that life should be completely without challenge. Struggle can build character. Hardship can teach resilience. But there is a profound difference between the productive friction of a life well-lived and the soul-crushing anxiety of not knowing whether your basic needs will be met. Worry about healthcare, shelter, food, education, and caring for your loved ones doesn’t make people stronger — it wears them down. It steals their potential. And it falls hardest on people who are already carrying the most.
We Are Better Than This
Here is what I know, we have the ability, as a society, to be extraordinary. To treat one another with dignity and respect. To build systems that allow every person — not just the lucky or the privileged — to live a safe, fulfilling existence.
The resources exist. The knowledge exists. The capacity exists.
And yet, for reasons that are more political than practical, we keep falling short. There is a segment of our society — and, more pointedly, a segment of our political leadership — that actively resists the idea that everyone deserves a decent life. That frames basic human needs as luxuries. That profits from division and scarcity while ordinary people struggle. These are the same people who will spend an entire news cycle outraged that a single mother used her food assistance benefits to buy her kids a treat — as if that is somehow the reason the federal budget is under strain. And yet, when it comes to funding a multi-billion dollar war, the checkbook is open and the objections are nowhere to be found.
This is a choice. And choices can be changed.
Vote for the Best of Us
The most direct tool we have is the one many people take for granted: the vote. And the sobering truth is that nearly 45% of eligible voters didn’t cast a ballot in the last presidential election. Some felt it wasn’t worth their time. Some didn’t think it would matter. But it does matter — every. single. time. Voting is one of the most powerful tools we have as a nation, and when we don’t use it, we don’t opt out of the outcome. We just let someone else decide it for us.
Every election cycle, we have the opportunity to choose leaders who reflect what we actually value — or to hand power to those who don’t. And too often, we let ourselves be distracted by outrage, by wedge issues, by personalities, and we forget to ask the most fundamental question:
Does this person want me and my family to live a good life?
This is bigger than you
It’s a simple question, but the answer has to go further than just your own family. It’s not just about people who look like you, worship like you, or live in your zip code. Everyone. Because a rising tide really does lift all boats — and leaders who invest in healthcare, education, housing, living wages, and community infrastructure aren’t giving something away. They’re building the kind of society where your kids can thrive, where your neighbors aren’t desperate, and where the basic dignity of a simple, fulfilling life isn’t a privilege reserved for the few.
We are not required to vote for fear. We are not required to vote for cruelty. We are not required to settle for leaders who see our struggles as leverage.
We can and should vote for the best of us.
We can demand leaders who believe, as we do, that every person deserves to come home at the end of the day, cook dinner, play catch in the backyard, pay their bills without panic, and drift off to sleep without dread.
That’s not a radical idea. It’s a simple one. You just need to think about what you want.
And it starts with who we choose to lead us.
I’d like to watch the sun set on this chapter of America — on the division, the cruelty, the manufactured scarcity — and let it go down for good.
Because after every sunset comes a sunrise. A new day, wide open and full of possibility. Not just for me. For the person down the street who can’t make rent. For the kid who deserves a decent school. For the family one medical bill away from losing everything.
That’s the morning I’m voting for. I hope you are too.
If you need help finding out if you are registered to vote, you can check your status in under a minute at https://vote.gov/register.
