A Lesson I Learned Watching a Goat Be Slaughtered

Hi there,

Years ago, while working in a small village overseas, I watched a family slaughter a goat.

They used everything. The meat fed the family. The bones became broth. The hide was tanned into sandals. The fat was rendered into soap. Even the intestines were cleaned and coiled to become sausage casing.

Nothing went to waste. Every part had a purpose. Nothing was discarded because nothing was taken for granted.

Watching them, I realized what I was witnessing was a kind of quiet genius: doing more with less.

I didn’t fully appreciate it then. But I get it now because I live in a world that does the opposite.

This is especially prominent this time of year. December has a particular distortion to it.

It’s a month where excess is celebrated. More gifts, more food, more decorations. And along with it comes more pressure and more obligations.

We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, often in pursuit of approval we don’t even want.

We live in an economy built on manufactured desire and hunger for more.

Billions of dollars are spent to make us feel perpetually unsatisfied and striving for more. And we’ve been conditioned to compensate and fill the void with stuff.

Back in that village, there was no such thing as seasonal excess, performative generosity, or piles of stuff to signal someone’s care. There was only nourishment, warmth, and utility.

And somehow, it felt richer.

That’s why wanting less has started to feel like a superpower to me.

In a culture that profits from your restlessness, wanting less gives you leverage. It slows the reflex and interrupts the pull. It puts choice back in your hands.

When you want less, you’re harder to control and manipulate. And harder to convince that something is missing when it isn’t.

Wanting makes life clearer and more your own. And that’s the power I’m holding onto this season:

The power to pause and choose intentionally. And to stop feeding what doesn’t feed you back.

In a world built on more, wanting less may be the quietest and most underrated form of rebellion there is.

Because when you stop feeding the machine with unnecessary desire, something else comes back online: clarity, space, and a quieter kind of wealth.

Wishing you a holiday season that leaves you feeling nourished in the ways that matter most!

Shakila