How stories cultivate belonging, filling life with small moments of joy and more in #TheEdit. 

• Bin the bucket list in 2026. It’s the spontaneous moments that make life rich and exciting, not the ones for which you have sky-high expectations – Financial Times (gift link) 
• The “hero’s journey” isn’t as universal as you think. Joseph Campbell argued that nearly every myth can be boiled down to a hero’s journey. Was he right? – Big Think  
• This question can change your life. Drawing on a Buddhist meditation, the writer Stephen Batchelor asks: What is this? – The New York Times (gift link) 
• How stories shape belonging. Learn how the stories we tell and hear shape our relationships, values, and sense of belonging – Greater Good Magazine 
• How to strengthen your focus when demands never let up. A neuroscientist explains why focus breaks down under pressure and how leaders can build the mental skills to stay present, clear-headed, and effective – Harvard Business Review 
• I lost my library in a fire. The question before me was whether to begin collecting all over again – The Atlantic 
• When resistance becomes the trap. Learning to sit with paradoxes could open up futures we have yet to imagine – The Beautiful Truth