Why I started reading obituaries every morning

I recorded this one sitting on a bench outside my friend's place in New York. No quiet room, no setup, just me and whatever the street wanted to add. I almost went inside to do it the normal way. I'm glad I didn't.

But the reason I wanted to talk wasn't the bench. It was something I've been doing every morning for the last couple of weeks. After I read my Bible, I started reading obituaries.

I got the idea from a book called Show Your Work. The author mentioned reading obituaries in the morning and how it can quietly change the way you live. So I tried it. I didn't expect much. Some mornings I would read one and think, what am I even supposed to get from this. Most mornings I walked away with more than I came in with.

What the obituaries showed me

Here's what got me. The variety of it. This is all local, people from the area I'm from, and even at that scale the range of lives was wild. One person basically built their own version of fantasy football. One guy was a firefighter who went and bought a business. Different lives, different gifts, no single blueprint.

One line stayed with me. A man had said he simply wanted to make this place better. That was it. I'd heard almost that exact idea somewhere else that same week, so it landed twice. We all get the chance to make this world a little better, if we choose to.

And I don't think that has to look like one specific thing. It could be a podcast. It could be YouTube, a vlog, writing, painting. I believe God put something creative in each of us, and expressing it is part of how the world gets better.

Why one small habit connected everything

The strange part is how much this tiny habit tied together. I got the website going. I started the newsletter. I picked up videography and started helping my barber with his social media. All these pieces I thought were scattered started clicking into place. I'm not saying the obituaries did all of that. But I think they lit the match.

Underneath it is the thing I keep coming back to. Most of us ask low-level questions, so we get low-level answers. When you start asking better questions, you get a better life, because you get a better output.

So maybe try it this week. Read a few obituaries in the morning and notice what runs through your head. If you do, I'd love to hear what came up. Send me a DM on Instagram, or share your own story on the Perspective page.

Because everyone has a story. And sometimes what you learned from living yours is exactly what helps someone else see their life from another angle.