A Recipe For a Good Life
July 4, 2024 • Written by Dr. Hannah Webb, ND
What makes a good life? This is a question I’ve thought a lot about as a physician, and in particular one who focuses not only on treating disease but on creating an environment for well being. Sitting across from my patients I hear many stories, and many versions of what life is and can be. There are infinite variations to the human life. And, there are simple universal principles that create quality of being. Here is my recipe thus far, my list of the things I notice:
Quality relationships – Meaningful connection and loved ones. Loving and being loved
Meaningful work/Sense of purpose – We all need something to work towards
Service – Looking outside yourself to offer to others
Plants – A life or landscape without plants is a bleak existence
Movement – Our bodies are also ourselves. Our bodies are designed to move, to be used, and regularly. Far far more than we typically do in modern western civilization. Movement that raises your heart rate, that is non-linear, that asks for balance, that requires use of many different muscles. And movement that you ENJOY and you want to come back to again and again.
Connection with the more than human – Time spent in nature, connection with beloved pets, and connection to the divine
Play – A letting go. A spark of joy. Connection.
Rest – A quality pause is so essential to being able to show up. Rest can come in many forms including physical, mental, sensory
Integrity, morality, honesty – Holding self and other to a high quality of being
Willingness to learn/trust in the process – Seeing life as a process, taking each opportunity or accident or mistake as a lesson to grow. This creates optimism and builds a sense of meaning.
Self expression – Music, art, dance. Taking the internal and expressing it, feeling our emotions and experience and then making it writ large outside of us
Good food – As Michael Pollen says: eat food, not too much, mostly plants, and nothing your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize. I.e. whole foods. And in all the colours.
Gratitude – Calling up gratitude in the body literally shifts your entire state, shifts your physiology
Easier said than done I might add! Balance is a dynamic process. And this is a particularly challenging time in the world and in many people’s lives. I see many people struggling individually while also this is a time of global war, a time when many people are questioning governmental authority and the powers that be, questioning the trustworthiness of journalism, and questioning what is true. This is a destabilizing time. And I think, our lifeline for a good life is to focus in our local community. So I’ll add Community to the list too. To take care of one another, to build community, to build life-giving projects, to garden, to support our local economy, and to take care of ourselves. I know personally I can’t fix it all but I can contribute where I can. The wellbeing of one is linked to the wellbeing of all. I think if we work towards these universal things we are living a good life.