Kathryn Schulz

I don't know how helpful it is in a day-to-day way for these kinds of balancing acts you're talking about, which are endlessly hard. But for good or ill, I do think that's just kind of how I look at the world.

I don't know how helpful it is in a day-to-day way for these kinds of balancing acts you're talking about, which are endlessly hard. But for good or ill, I do think that's just kind of how I look at the world.

Sure. I mean, I'm going to tell a story that sounds like it can't possibly be true. And I swear it is. And what you need to know by way of context for this story is that a year or so ago, my partner and I bought the house across the street from the farm where she was born and raised and where her parents still live.

Sure. I mean, I'm going to tell a story that sounds like it can't possibly be true. And I swear it is. And what you need to know by way of context for this story is that a year or so ago, my partner and I bought the house across the street from the farm where she was born and raised and where her parents still live.

And we've been gradually renovating it ever since then and incredibly excited to move in and to be near family and frankly, near more childcare. And And so we finally move in and I'm just reveling in this beautiful new home as we settle into it. And then this is only a week ago, my daughter, who's now three and a half, we have these beautiful fields outside of our house.

And we've been gradually renovating it ever since then and incredibly excited to move in and to be near family and frankly, near more childcare. And And so we finally move in and I'm just reveling in this beautiful new home as we settle into it. And then this is only a week ago, my daughter, who's now three and a half, we have these beautiful fields outside of our house.

And she wanders off into the field and she returns with a stalk of wheat. I said, look, mama. And so I'm thinking, oh, she found a stalk of wheat. Fun, you know, children pick up everything, right? Clovers, coins, anything muddy, tarantulas, whatever. whatever they can find. So she hands me this stock of wheat.

And she wanders off into the field and she returns with a stalk of wheat. I said, look, mama. And so I'm thinking, oh, she found a stalk of wheat. Fun, you know, children pick up everything, right? Clovers, coins, anything muddy, tarantulas, whatever. whatever they can find. So she hands me this stock of wheat.

And I'm just thinking, oh, how sweet she gets to live in this beautiful setting where the outdoors is full of so many wonderful little things for her to study. And she looks at me very seriously and she says, Mama, we should use this wheat to make bread for people who don't have any. Just one of those moments as a parent where on the one hand, you're just so in love with your child.

And I'm just thinking, oh, how sweet she gets to live in this beautiful setting where the outdoors is full of so many wonderful little things for her to study. And she looks at me very seriously and she says, Mama, we should use this wheat to make bread for people who don't have any. Just one of those moments as a parent where on the one hand, you're just so in love with your child.

You think, I mean, who made this remarkable mind? Like the last thing I'm sitting there thinking like, oh, it's like she found a pretty flower or something. And there she is apparently thinking about like the poor and privation and need. So right away, my kind of sense of the scale of what we were talking about just wildly shifted. But also to be honest, it's just, I felt...

You think, I mean, who made this remarkable mind? Like the last thing I'm sitting there thinking like, oh, it's like she found a pretty flower or something. And there she is apparently thinking about like the poor and privation and need. So right away, my kind of sense of the scale of what we were talking about just wildly shifted. But also to be honest, it's just, I felt...

Right alongside feeling overwhelming kind of awe for her, I felt so morally indicted. I mean, I am literally in the middle of, you know, reveling in my pretty new kitchen. And then suddenly I'm confronted with real hunger in the world. And I'm thinking, why do I have this beautiful backsplash? Like, what have I done here? Right?

Right alongside feeling overwhelming kind of awe for her, I felt so morally indicted. I mean, I am literally in the middle of, you know, reveling in my pretty new kitchen. And then suddenly I'm confronted with real hunger in the world. And I'm thinking, why do I have this beautiful backsplash? Like, what have I done here? Right?

My three-year-old has more moral clarity than I do about how we should spend our money and our time and what actually matters in life. So, yeah, I mean, in a wonderful way. I feel like my world is full of discoveries that seem small and blossom out into the enormous or seem enormous and then have some kind of bearing on small practical things like how to be a family and how to raise children.

My three-year-old has more moral clarity than I do about how we should spend our money and our time and what actually matters in life. So, yeah, I mean, in a wonderful way. I feel like my world is full of discoveries that seem small and blossom out into the enormous or seem enormous and then have some kind of bearing on small practical things like how to be a family and how to raise children.

And it's often incredibly humbling and sometimes it's very funny and sometimes it's very moving. And in that case, it was all of the above.

And it's often incredibly humbling and sometimes it's very funny and sometimes it's very moving. And in that case, it was all of the above.

Absolutely. I mean, I think, look, I mean, even the monks are not that monkish, right? I mean, there's a wonderful body of literature about distraction, you know, in these spaces that are supposed to be sanctuaries from all the pressures of the outside world and focus the mind. And, you know, you're meant to just think purely about God.

Absolutely. I mean, I think, look, I mean, even the monks are not that monkish, right? I mean, there's a wonderful body of literature about distraction, you know, in these spaces that are supposed to be sanctuaries from all the pressures of the outside world and focus the mind. And, you know, you're meant to just think purely about God.