There are glimpses of heaven to us in every act, or thought, or word, that raises us above ourselves. — Robert Quillen

There are glimpses of heaven to us in every act, or thought, or word, that raises us above ourselves.

Author: Robert Quillen

Insight: We spend a lot of time stuck in our own heads—worrying about what people think, replaying conversations, planning our next move. Then something breaks the spell. Maybe you're having a real conversation with a stranger and suddenly feel genuinely connected. Maybe you do something hard for someone else and forget to keep score. Maybe you read something that makes you see the world differently. In those moments, you're not thinking about yourself. And that feels different. That feels like something bigger. Quillen's insight is that these moments aren't rare mystical experiences reserved for mountaintops or meditation retreats. They're woven into ordinary life—they just require one thing: getting out of your own way. The catch is that most of our default habits pull us the opposite direction. Social media, perfectionism, and comparison keep us trapped in our own story. So these "glimpses of heaven" aren't automatic; they happen when we choose to act, think, or speak in ways that transcend our small concerns. What makes this quietly radical is the flip side: if heaven is accessible through how we treat others and what we let our minds focus on, then suffering often comes from the inverse—from staying too small, too defended, too self-focused. The good life might not require grand gestures, just consistent choices to look up.