Quiet Clarity is a 2x/week newsletter on stillness, ambition, and meaning — for people building without losing themselves.
The chase for pleasure—what a beautiful trap.
I spent years running after the next high. The next experience that would make me feel something real.
But here's what happened: I'd get exactly what I wanted, and the emptiness would still be there.
It took me too long to understand I was looking in the wrong direction. Trying to fill an inside problem with outside solutions.
There’s a book that changed how I see all this.
It’s called Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
Frankl survived the Holocaust and noticed something profound. The ones who survived the concentration camps weren’t the strongest or smartest. They were the ones who could find meaning, even in suffering.
He realized that even when everything is taken from you, there’s still one freedom left: the freedom to choose your response.
Between what happens and how we react lies a gap.
That gap is where our meaning lives.
So how does that tie into purpose?
Well, when you start living from that gap — when you stop reacting to every circumstance and instead choose your response — life starts to feel different.
Purpose isn’t a career, a mission statement, or a single “aha” moment. It’s a practice. It’s the daily act of choosing how you meet life.
For example, you might be in a job you dislike.
But you still have a choice:
1) You can decide to pursue something new.
2) Or you can decide to bring a different energy into the work you already have.
Both are acts of purpose. Because both mean you’re choosing, not drifting.
Purpose isn’t about finding the perfect path. It’s about walking with awareness, wherever you are.
And I’ve realized that when you live that way, life becomes a lot lighter.
So let me start with method #1: pursuing something new.
Let’s take a look.
Following what felt light
Throughout high school and college, I made videos for fun.
I'm not sure why, but I just followed what I was curious about.
Over time, those videos began getting millions of views on TikTok.
That pulled me toward building a content business.
And eventually, it led me here, to sharing my reflections with you.
None of it was planned.
The path only makes sense looking backward.
But I do want to add this.
To even see the path clearly, I first had to step away from the noise — all the pleasure-seeking that kept me distracted.
Working on myself
Spending time improving myself helped change a lot.
At first, as I worked on myself, I began to feel more selfish.
Sleeping early meant less time with friends and fewer outings with parents.
Making more content meant saying "no" more often to social plans.
But over time, something unexpected happened.
Those acts of working on myself led to more opportunities.
I began writing more and even got my parents involved.
Now my mom creates drawings for them. She sends sketches and asks about topics. Our conversations go deeper about creativity, purpose, and life.
I began building my business, and my brother and I transformed our relationship and learned how to work well together.
I now have more deeper conversations with friends around discipline, freedom and purpose.
What looked like selfishness was actually service.
By becoming better, I had more to give.
Detaching from outcomes
As I began seeing results, I started getting hooked.
I wanted more so badly I forgot why I started creating.
I'd wake up checking metrics instead of excited about making videos.
The joy disappeared.
The cycle is predictable: desire something, chase it, feel miserable if you fail, feel complete for a week if you succeed, then need the next thing.
Letting go didn't make me less ambitious. It made me more focused, because now I gave it my all on the work itself, without clinging to a result.
I started saying "I will cook whole foods today" instead of "I will have perfect health next year."
One (the input) is in my control, the other (the output) isn't.
Together, all of these shifts — following what felt light, working on myself, and letting go — brought a sense of purpose.
Looking back
For me, it all began as a grind. It didn’t happen overnight.
You work incredibly hard for what you think you want, only to realize most of it wasn’t what you wanted at all.
That’s the lesson: you have to chase the wrong things to recognize the right ones.
Purpose isn’t built in grand moments. It’s built quietly, day by day.
Small moments that feel light become days that feel light.
Those days stack into years.
And before you know it, you’re living a life you never planned, but always needed.
From Amma’s Hand
In my mom’s words: “The light of the soul is within you, not outside. Look within to see it.”
From Nanna’s Voice
