Why is “content” more commonly used as an adjective rather than as a verb? Why is it something that I “am,” rather than something that I do?

Maybe that seems counter-intuitive, as though I am placing priority on doing over being (I hear echoes of pop psychology in my head: “I’m a human being, not a human doing.”)

But here’s the thing: on any given day, I am capable of being many things, from one moment to the next. Contentment, I would say, is more of a way of orienting myself on any given day, in any given circumstance. It’s not so much describing “who I am,” but rather how I position myself in the world.

So today was no big thing, really. Nothing monumental happened, just the standard ups and downs. But I was aware of a certain lightness about me all day.

Apparently, I was doing contentment, and doing it without much effort.

I’m sure tomorrow, or some other day in the near or distant future, I will find myself sitting squarely in discontent. Hopefully today will be a reminder of how easy it is to reorient myself toward contentment, no matter what I find myself doing–or being.