hello again 👋🏼

and welcome to shaping life.

Hello friends,

Most of my life was focused on one thing: building a career. In 2014, I left that career in search of something else. I didn’t know it then, but what I was really looking for was a different way of living.

I’ve spent much of my time since then experimenting, paying attention, and writing. One idea, in particular, has become an anchor for me from the American psychologist and philosopher William James:

“My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind.”

I love that thought because it reminds me that our lives are shaped, little by little, by what we repeatedly give our attention to.

When I look back, I can trace who I’ve become through the books I’ve read, the films I’ve watched, and the conversations and experiences I’ve had. Together, they’ve (re)shaped how I think about work, relationships, purpose, and what makes for a good life.

Shaping Life is my attempt to keep a record of that attention.

Each essay begins somewhere — a book, a film, an idea, a conversation, an experience — but it’s never really about reviewing those things. It’s about noticing what stayed, why it mattered, and how it became part of the person I’m still becoming.

If some of these observations spark ideas for your own life, even better!

• • •

I publish new essays most Sundays. Most are free to read.

Paid subscribers also receive access to the complete archive, the monthly What Stayed With Me (a curated collection of ideas and references to revisit), as well as occasional invitations to small gatherings with fellow readers.

I’m glad you’re here. Whether you’ve been reading for years or only subscribed a few weeks ago, thank you for joining me.

I’m looking forward to this next chapter with you.

Talk soon,
Lou Blaser

P.S. You may notice older posts referring to We’re All Getting Older. That was this publication’s previous name. In July 2026, I renamed it Shaping Life to better reflect the broader conversations you’ll find here.

Lou Blaser exchanged PowerPoint decks for essays and has yet to regret the trade. She writes Shaping Life, where she follows her curiosity through books, conversations, films, and whatever else refuses to leave her alone.