“I believe that I cannot have power over myself as I have an ingrained desire to integrate among people and cultures and would end up resembling them; by withdrawing myself entirely I can have a better control of my fate. I am currently enjoying a thrill of the classics I have not felt since childhood. I am now thinking of the next step: to recreate a low-information, more deterministic ancient time, say in the nineteenth century, all the while benefiting from some of the technical gains, all of the medical breakthroughs, and all the gains of social justice of our day. I would then have the best of everything. This is called evolution.” ~ Nassim Taleb

The influence of culture has a greater impact on us than we usually realize. We identify ourselves too much with the rest of society. But when we stop and ask ourselves what we really want, we realize that we would be better off without many of the things others says we should want. 

Very little of what is happening outside our own home needs to be brought into our thoughts. Be selective about what you expose yourself to. Listen to the birds more.