Our choice is between living an unintentionally mimetic life or doing the hard work of cultivating thick desires. The latter may require us to suffer from the fear of missing out on the shiny mimetic objects that surround us. At the end of my life, I believe the primary thing I’ll fear having missed out on is the pursuit of thick desires. Desires that I’ll feel satisfied about having poured myself out for. If I’m going to die of exhaustion—and, eventually, all of us will—it’s not going to be from chasing thin desires. It’s going to be from grabbing hold of a thick one and holding on until
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