We’ve been told that the meaning of life is self-actualisation, to achieve some perfect state of mental health and productivity. Don’t commit until you have perfect control. But I think that way of thinking will backfire. Because the end point of trying to control everything is you become like a machine: emotionally detached, hyper-productive, super-efficient… and alone.

— Frey India in N.S. Lyons, The Self and the Soul: A Dialogue with Freya India , The Upheaval, 2024