Human Things

Revisiting is an ongoing, summer 2026 series that explores the ways people are spending time with what matters. Think: very offline, analog things. Reading, walking, talking, wondering, connecting. Living.

This series is active. You can share Human Things you’ve been up to here.

Note: aliases are provided or names limited to first name to protect the identities of those who share. Some comments may have been edited for clarity or brevity.

Menna, 22

“I’ve been indulging in something I’ve been shying away from for as long as I could remember. Physical touch. I’ve experienced pleasure with another person for the very first time and… it left me in tears. These few weeks I’ve been in a very deep and tumultuous emotional state.

I’ve been left to meditate on how my body felt to be no longer denied of touch. I’ve even been mourning the time I’ve been living without it.

Nowadays, I’m sitting with myself, away from my phone, just…holding me. Physically holding space for my body and all of its weight. My sorrows and enlightenments.

I think conversations about physical intimacy are important. I also believe that we should explore the ways in which we receive touch, especially for those like myself who have been scarred by it.

Palm to knees grounded me. Palm to belly released me. Palm to shoulders supported me. I wouldn’t have known this level of healing had I still feared physical intimacy.

It’s the most human thing I’ve felt all year.

I want to be a human who gets to grovel in her pleasure unapologetically. Raw and unfiltered.

Ive told my friends and they’ve gassed me up in the most obscene ways, but I didn’t feel connected to that sense of pride, at least not in the ways they depicted. While we joked and laughed ourselves around sex talk, I was hesitant to actually speak on how I felt deep, deep down.

I feel relief in my bones. Tender in spirit. Vulnerable. Like I’ve breathed for the first time, in a long time.

I want to speak more about my body than his. My release over his. About how the pleasure may have been ours in that moment, but more specifically how this pleasure of mine actually belongs to me. On my time. By my choice.

It may be a bit juvenile, but I’ve unleashed a huge part of me and I feel human again after years of feeling like an anomaly to my own body and I really hope that more people touch on themselves more.

Not just sexually, but affectionately and lovingly.”

Ally, 27

“Slow morning walks with my dog as we watch the sunrise, before the day starts demanding anything from me I have those few moments to myself”

Zoe, 22

“The quickest route I can take when walking to work involves busy roads and crowds of people. There's another route that's about 5 minutes longer, which takes you through a park with lavender and jasmine growing nearby. I've always tried to maximise efficiency in my life; not taking the quickest path felt like a waste of time. But recently I've been leaving 5 minutes earlier for work, so I can take the longer route through the park. Making time to smell the lavender and jasmine in the morning always feels worth it, never like a waste of time.”

T, 21

“Honestly, lately it's been really small stuff. I've been making tea every morning and not looking at my phone while I drink it. That sounds so basic but it took me embarrassingly long to get there. I had to actively fight the urge to scroll while the water boiled. Now it's the most healing part of my day.

I've been writing letters. Actual paper letters to my nana. She doesn't text so it's the only way we really talk between visits. It makes me say things I wouldn't say in a text. I'm more honest on paper.

Walking without earbuds. That one's newer and I kind of hate it and love it. It's so quiet and my thoughts get loud. But I think that's how it’s supposed to feel.

And this is maybe weird but cooking for people. Not like, hosting a dinner party. Just making someone a plate. My roommate had a terrible week and I made her pasta and she almost cried and it made me almost cry. That felt like the most human thing I've done in months.”

River, 29

“Morning matcha on the balcony. Long baths for no reason. Reading in bed instead of watching TV.”

Revisiting

Revisiting is an ongoing, summer 2026 series that explores the ways people are taking stock of their lives. If you have something you’ve been revisiting, share it here.

Most Recent Update: June 27

Note: aliases are provided or names limited to first name to protect the identities of those who share. Some comments have been edited for clarity or brevity.

Joanna, 24

“I’ve been revisiting what it means to be alive. Like, what I want to do with my life now that I have time to think about it. I realized it’s not what I was doing before. [The job loss] was like a gift in that way.”

Lisbeth, 22

“Revisiting old patterns. I’m realizing I take a lot of pride in who I am for my friends, but I’ve always done that at the expense of myself. The older we get, the less I actually feel connected to them. I don’t feel like I fit in anymore.”

Rachel, 28

“I want to quit. But I also want to make money. I worry I’ll be stuck like this forever. I guess I’m not really revisiting, or maybe just revisiting my relationship with money. Or maybe revisiting my decisions.”

Nina, 19

“…I guess I’m revisiting how to be kind to myself. I’ve always considered myself [high-achieving] and getting diagnosed with a chronic health issue forced everything to be different. Navigating that, plus emotional/mental health, has been most of my past year.”

Michael, 27

“I’m revisiting my relationships. I had a friend who did something last year that was really [messed up]. This year, I decided to forgive him. Things aren’t really the same but it opened up a lot. And now I’m just [figuring out what to do with it].

Louisa, 52

“[My daughter and I] both took time to step back and consider what we want the next ten years of our lives to look like.”

Erica, 23

“I left a long-term relationship, and I feel like I’m relearning who I am and what I want that to mean.”

Toni, 25

“My assumptions needed revisiting. I went through my entire college experience with identities that I’m realizing don’t really fit anymore. I wanted to feel less alone and have a name for the things that I thought applied to me, but I ended up adopting beliefs and labels about myself that really held me back, [in ways that] I don’t even really think are authentic, and maybe could never be. I built relationships and friend groups entirely around these. I even strained some important relationships in my family because of it. Even writing this, the old me would think it is problematic, but shedding all of it feels like a weight lifted.”

Morgan, 28

“I'm revisiting the ways in which I cope with the world as it exists. Some of my coping mechanisms are not practical or healthy long-term. I use "life is short" as a crutch.”

Lex, 22

“After going through a degree I ended up not wanting and a toxic relationship, I've been trying to revisit the little girl I was and what she was interested in. Revisiting how to not have shame in who I am, what I like, or how I show up to others. Trying to let myself be weird again.”

Ali, 24

“Revisiting my creative energy. Realizing that with working full-time, i've lost the excitement of creating just for fun. Im revisiting my child-like creativity and revisiting old hobbies that used to bring me joy. So far, its reminded me life is not work-work-work, for a joyful life, its play too.”

J, 25

“After almost 10 months in my "big girl" job after graduating. I realized that my degree was more to satisfy my family and others rather than myself. I am still grateful of the journey, it has given me guidance and honed my skills on many things. I'm hoping to revisit schooling in something that can help benefit what I want to do in life before chasing that dream I had when I was younger.”