Living an Unmeasured Life

Mary Oliver said in her poem titled "Somewhere,"

After the rain, I went back into the field of sunflowers. It was cool, and I was anything but drowsy. I walked slowly, and listened

to the crazy roots, in the drenched earth, laughing and growing.

Oh my.

We live in an age that loves numbers. Steps counted, hours tracked, calories logged, mood scores recorded, productivity apps buzzing at our wrists. It can feel like everything about our existence must be tallied, assessed, compared, and optimized. Somewhere in this flood of data, the messy, unquantifiable beauty of living gets edged out.

But there is another way of being: the unmeasured life.

The unmeasured life is not careless or lazy. It is a choice, a conscious stepping back from the scoreboard that modern culture places over our every move. It is an invitation to listen inward, to measure not with numbers but with presence, sensation, and meaning.

When you walk through the woods, the unmeasured life doesn’t care if you logged 2.4 miles or burned 325 calories. It asks: Did you notice the light through the leaves? Did you feel your breath deepen when you stopped by the river?

When you prepare a meal, the unmeasured life doesn’t tally the grams of protein or the macronutrient ratios. It wonders: Did this food comfort you? Did you share it with someone you love? Did you savor it slowly?

When you rest, the unmeasured life doesn’t monitor sleep cycles or app-generated sleep scores. It wants to know: Do you feel restored? Did your body soften into the sheets? Did your dreams carry you someplace you needed to go?

Of course, there are times when measurement has real value. For someone rebuilding strength after an injury, tracking progress can be motivating and grounding. For those navigating chronic conditions, a log of food, sleep, or exercise may illuminate patterns that lead to healing. For others, a season of data collection can sharpen awareness, offering a baseline to learn from. Measurement, when used consciously, can be a tool—not a master.

The unmeasured life simply reminds us that not everything of importance can be tracked. Joy doesn’t need validation from a fitness app, and love isn’t made stronger by a chart. Our worth has never lived in a dataset. Instead, it has always lived in the irreducible wholeness of simply being alive.

Stepping away from constant measurement can feel radical in a culture obsessed with optimization. But sometimes the greatest act of self-care is to stop tracking, stop tallying, stop proving—and instead, to be.

To live an unmeasured life is to reclaim intimacy with your own rhythms. To let your body, not your device, be the authority on what feels right. To trust your instincts again. To remember that life is not a project to be perfected, but a mystery to be experienced.

Maybe the question is not How many steps did I take? but rather Where did those steps carry me? Not How many hours was I productive? but What was meaningful about today? Not What is my score?  but What is my story?

In the end, the unmeasured life doesn’t reject growth, health, or awareness. It simply offers another compass: one of wonder, presence, and trust. A compass that reminds us that the most important truths are often immeasurable.

From "Somewhere," by Mary Oliver:

Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

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Mary Daniel is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach dedicated to the pursuit of good health for everyone. Through her business, Your One Precious Life, she partners with clients and communities and in the spirit of collaboration, paves the way for health transformations.

Interested in a free health consultation? Visit: www.youronepreciouslife.com or email mary@youronepreciouslife.com.