The Serviceberry and the Idea of “Enough”

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how often “more” is presented as the answer — more routines, more products, more upgrades, more striving. Especially online, health and wellness are often framed as something we have to keep adding to in order to be okay.

I didn’t expect The Serviceberry to resonate with me as deeply as it did, but it quietly named something I’ve been feeling for a long time.

The book centers on a simple but powerful idea:
There are two ways to get enough — to accumulate more, or to desire less.

That distinction stopped me.

Because when I look honestly at my life, the moments that feel the most grounded and healthy aren’t the ones where I’ve added more. They’re the moments where I’ve stepped back. Simplified. Chosen what actually serves me.

This way of thinking reaches far beyond money or possessions. It touches how we eat, how we care for our bodies, how we spend our energy, and how we move through the world. It asks us to question a culture that constantly encourages us to consume — even when that consumption doesn’t truly nourish us.

Reading this book made me reflect on how often “self-care” is marketed as something to buy, rather than something to practice. How easily excess gets normalized. How rarely we pause to ask whether something is truly needed — or just being advertised well.

For me, choosing less doesn’t feel like deprivation.
It feels like relief.

It feels like health that’s sustainable instead of exhausting.
It feels like quiet instead of noise.
It feels like enough.

I don’t have all of this figured out, and I don’t think this is about perfection or opting out of the world. It’s about paying attention. About making thoughtful choices. About remembering that health isn’t always about adding more — sometimes it’s about subtracting what no longer serves us.

This book didn’t give me a checklist or a plan. It offered a perspective. And right now, that feels like exactly what I needed.

One bite at a time.