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Contentment is a strange thing, many people spend most or their whole lives searching for it, some people never find it in their entire life. The best way I can describe contentment is a fullness and happiness that comes from what you have. Some people need many items or friends to be around to feel content, some people need not much at all, and some people can never be content it seems.  It’s a bit strange to be writing this as somebody who is still searching for contentment for the most part but I have found flashes and moments of contentment.

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A picture of 10 year old me about to go on a bike ride, something that did, and still does make me content.

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Hello, my name is Evan and in total honesty, I may not be the best person to be writing about this. I don't have a degree in psychology and have not spent every second of my whole life searching for contentment. But like you, I am just a normal person and I feel this gives me some insight and input. I have spent some of my life searching for contentment and tend to be a generally introspective person. I am still a person and so have my own flaws and character that may make finding contentment much harder or easier than you. Some of the activities that make me feel content may bring you nothing. I still invite you to try out some of what I recommend and see if it helps you.

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Many people assume that something as simple as making tea every evening could not make a noticeable difference in your mood but I believe otherwise. Rituals have a deep meaning and purpose than just to fulfill a physical purpose such as brushing your teeth. I found rituals to help me far more than I anticipated, rituals are calming and can make you feel connected, content and, ground you. During the pandemic, a feeling of groundedness was vital for me.

Despite how simple and basic making tea and the help it offered was great During depressing and dreary times such as the Covid-19 pandemic when there was not a lot to do, simple rituals helped me feel content and happy with what I had.

Somebody else had an experience quite like mine with ritual and tea making in My Tea Ritual Was a Source of Comfort During a Terrible 2020. The simple click of the tea cup landing on its coaster, the splashing of water being poured from the kettle into the cup, the pleasant smelling vapors rising from the tea into your nose. The first sip of leaf interlinked with hot water. The final sip with the (rather strong and bitter most of the time) leaf pieces that could not be filtered out by the strainer. After the whole process ends I really felt more relaxed, at peace, and content.

All of the experiences of making tea really did help me through the pandemic, taking a minute to slow down and enjoy making tea was such a greater help than it may seem. After making the tea and drinking it I felt more receptive and at peace almost. The ritualistic traits of making tea combined with the drink being warm are a perfect combination for an activity that makes you feel warm and content at the end.

Along with rituals, building a routine helped me as well. I believe that routines can be just as helpful as rituals in some cases. Even though the tasks performed in them are rather uninteresting, routines add many of the benefits seen in rituals. The repetition and predictability that routines have is much like the repetition and predictability seen in rituals and can help calm you. I found that routines themselves do not provide as much of the calming and anxiety reduction that rituals do. Routines help provide consistency and predictability and can help reduce anxiety in that way but I have found do not calm me.

A third ritual that helps me is every night I used to read a book before bed. While in recent times I have not had much time to read before bed when I did have the time it was great. I found it helpful to be away from a screen for 20-30 minutes before bed and just overall calming. If you are looking for a book to read I recommend Tell the Machine Goodnight.

If you are interested in making tea into a ritual and want to learn how to make tea this video is a nice guide.

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It has become common today to dismiss the usefulness of protecting and connecting with nature. I have the opinion that since the beginnings of human history we have been surrounded by and lived off nature we need a connection with nature to be happy. I believe that origin makes it so for a lot of people is a vital part of being content. In current times you likely don't have much time to spend in nature between school, work, and whatever other commitments you have to modern life and that may be making you less happy. Because of our roots as humans, my experience, and the experience of others I argue that building a connection with nature and deriving enjoyment from being in nature is one of our oldest traits; therefore for a lot of people being connected with nature is a vital part of being content.

It may be due to the strange relationship humans have with nature that we have come to dismiss the usefulness of spending time outdoors; however, I believe that it has its benefit. I find establishing a connection with nature to be essential for your mental health. Losing that connection with the natural world and spending all day inside has led to me and many others being unhappy even if it did not feel like that was the cause at the time. Even when just in your neighborhood or city having trees around has been known to make people happier. There have been studies done about the beneficial impact that parts of nature can have on our mood and mental health. Something about seeing trees and vegetation boosts our mood and can bring happiness even if subconsciously. Finding the beauty and building a connection to nature does not need to be a hard or special task and can be done in your own backyard or neighborhood. I personally going on hikes and walks with a podcast, I enjoy the Distractable, a podcast by the Youtuber markiplier. You have likely heard stories about people climbing mountains or heading out into the forest for days on end to feel connected with nature and you may be feeling like that is the only way to find that beauty. To this, I say that beauty can be seen in nature anywhere even on mundane days. Francis Sanzaro holds the same opinion I do that the beauty of nature can be observed anywhere. In his article The Next Walk You Take Could Change Your Life he praised his experiences walking around in his neighborhood, as Sanzaro himself states [“ I started walking around my neighborhood more. Compared with those wild places, this was unremarkable: pacing down a sidewalk of 10-year-old maples, across cracked squares of pavement, alongside a ditch bursting with spring runoff. But I turned it into a practice of sensation. I listened. I felt. And in a remarkable way, the neighborhood came alive.”] It really shows how by being thoughtful and paying attention to what was previously unremarkable in nature can help you build a connection and be more content.  It is clear that there is a noticeable benefit to building a connection with nature and preserving nature. Going all the way back to some of the earliest humans we have had a deep connection with nature and worshipped the stars and the land around us. If you have been feeling unhappy and just generally down lately spending more time outside and building a connection with nature could help more than you anticipated.

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A systematic review conducted in 2021 found that university students showed estimates of 55.4% for emotional exhaustion, 31.6% for cynicism, and 30.9% for academic efficacy. As college becomes more competitive there is more pressure to do well in the hopes of increasing your chances of living a happy and successful life. This increase in pressure has led to many people feeling extremely stressed, burnt out, or both about school. Whether due to high workload, stress about needing to do well, or a combination of both it is clear there are major issues with a burnout in the upper levels of education. Thankfully there are ways to help prevent burnout and get out of it.

Student burnout is most commonly defined as having low or no motivation, increased irritability, and feelings of anxiety or depression. Not all of the signs of student burnout are mental though, there are some physical signs. Some of the physical signs are high frequency of illness, headaches, and exhaustion. I expect the vast majority of college students have felt those feelings at least for a day or two but not long enough to cause any issues.

Burnout is not only something that affects students, it is prevalent in the job world, especially in medicine. This magazine article from 2017 discusses burnout and how common it is. In fact, that magazine article is one of my inspirations for writing about burnout. I came across it in a doctor's office a few years ago and remembered it when thinking of topics to write.

As the issue of student burnout only grows in size and scale knowing how to avoid burnout is more important a skill than ever. Here are some tips that have helped me avoid burnout. Some of the tips I use and a few more I have yet to try found in this article.

1. Do what makes you content: Be sure you are doing what makes you content, not just happy

2. Find time to recharge: Finding time to rest and relax is needed to avoid burnout.

3. Be aware of your mental space: By being more aware of your mental health and how you are doing you can realize when you are getting burnt out and get a better handle on your burnout before it becomes an issue.

4. Manage your time well: By keeping your time managed well you can keep your workload more even to reduce the number of days when you have an excessive amount of work to do.

5. Choose your battles: Deciding when it is worth working harder and when you need the break is a vital component to avoiding burnout. There will be times when you need to ask your self is it worth working extra hard now for the reward.

By building rituals, connecting with nature, and avoiding burnout hopefully you can find contentment. I really do help that some tip in this guide, however small, can help you out in some way.

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A review of "Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams.

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Tell the Machine Goodnight, a book I think is worth saying good morning to.

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Tell the Machine Goodnight, a book I think is worth saying good morning to.

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The title “Tell the Machine Goodnight” sounds like it could be an epic tale of somebody destroying a machine forever but instead we have a slightly futuristic and occasionally dark story about contentment, happiness, letting go, and personal growth. I found the plot to be good in theory but feeling slightly rushed and without a proper climax. The somewhat lackluster plot is made up for with well written characters and a nicely relaxed writing style that fits the book well. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anybody who wants a calm read that in my opinion is best enjoyed with a cup of tea.