It’s an ongoing series, a day-by-day stream of consciousness that’s moved from waking to pain to addiction to dopamine to social media addiction to breaking the habits by way of gratitude. Let’s keep the ball rolling. Let’s talk about examined investment.

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The feast is in the books. The turkey, the stuffing, the sweet potato pie—it’s all a memory (one that might stick to the ribs and hips for a few more weeks). Between the fasting, football, and family rows about politics and religion, did you take the time to give thanks for the good things in your life? Did you create a gratitude list?

Over the weekend, I was reviewing my own list:

Amber: For the twenty years we’ve shaken beds and fists together over the last 20 years; for the ways she sticks with me in the thin and thick times; for her beauty;
Creativity: For the ways making things—photographs, books, poems, whatever—brings me life;
Career: For the fact that creativity drives my daily work;
Church: For the ways it keeps me centered, even when its systems and structures fail;
Advent: For the season of reflection before the coming of Joy.

As I pored over the list, I remembered an investment maxim from my days as an economics major. (The things you remember when you pause to reflect are a neural network of odds and ends.) It was an investment maxim from a book written by famed investor Peter Lynch, and it went something like this: Invest in the things you understand, the things you can explain with a crayon and a piece of paper. I reviewed my gratitude list, considered the Lynchian maxim, and wondered: Of all the things I should be investing in, shouldn’t it be the things on that slip of paper? And shouldn’t that investment go beyond expenditures of money; shouldn’t it look beyond the monetary return on investment? Examined investment takes time and talent, too. Right?

This week, I’m revisiting my list, and I’m asking you to revisit yours. As I do, I’ll explore what it looks like to live a life of examined investment. And yes, this week-long series might step on your toes a little (are any of us investing in our lives the way we should?), but rest assured, it’s stepping on mine too. So get out your gratitude list (or make one if you haven’t), and take a hard look at it in preparation for the week. Come along, and lean into a new kind of examination.

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A Word About These Posts

Over the next year, I’m creating a series of connected pieces, each of which will build on the previous posts. It’s a sober stream of consciousness that began with my Waking series. Where will it go? You’ll have to follow along to find out. So, if you’re not already signed up to receive my daily emails, you know what to do. (And while you’re here, consider picking up my books, Coming Clean and The Book of Waking Up.)